Russia will contribute about 1,000 military...

"Russia, Kazakhstan and China will each contribute a thousand military servicemen to the exercises," Col. Oleg Yushkov, a spokesman for the land forces commander, said.

He added that the soldiers would be transported to the exercises, called Peace Mission 2010, by rail.

The decision to hold Peace Mission 2010 was made in May of 2008 in Dushanbe at a meeting of the defense ministers of the participating countries.

The SCO regional security group comprises Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan, which took over the rotating chair of the organization last year. Iran, India, Mongolia and Pakistan have observer status.

MOSCOW, April 6 (RIA Novosti)