"The SCO member states have a common understanding that the exercises of this kind should be held on a regular basis. Probably, their periodicity will be not rarer than once in two years," Russian news agencies quoted him as saying.

The SCO held the "Peace Mission 2007" drill in Russia last year, which was the first ever joint military exercise involving all the six member states of the regional mechanism, namely China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Defense ministers of the SCO states will determine dates of the next joint exercises at their meeting in Dushanbe this summer, Nurgaliyev said.

The SCO has reached an agreement with the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) that allows the Moscow-led bloc’s member states to take part in those exercises, said the Russian official.

Founded in Shanghai on 15 June 2001, the SCO seeks to enhance cooperation among member states in various areas such as security, economy, transportation, culture, disaster relief and law enforcement, with security and economic cooperation being the priorities.