Senior security officials from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) met on 20 September in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan to discuss political and military trends in Central Asia, RIA Novosti reported quoting the CSTO press service.

The Committee of Secretaries of the Security Councils is a consulting and executive security body of the post-Soviet security group in Central Asia, which comprises Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

During the plenary meeting, Secretaries of the Security Councils discussed an annual report by the Secretary General as well as priority activities for the next year.

CSTO members use the organization as a platform to fight drug trafficking, terrorism, illegal migration and organized crime, and have pledged to provide immediate military assistance to one another in the event of an attack.

During the meeting, the CSTO officials also discussed further development of the organization’s peacekeeping mechanisms.

The bloc has a Collective Rapid Reaction Force deployed in Central Asia, and is continuing to build up its military forces, which some experts view as a step to counter-balance NATO’s further eastward expansion and to keep Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries under Russia’s military protection.

The committee reviewed a number of draft documents coordinating joint efforts in the fight against terrorism, drug-trafficking and illegal migration.