Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law ratifying the Russian-Chinese agreement on cooperation in war on terror. The State Duma (lower house of parliament) approved the agreement on November 11 and the Federation Council ratified it on November 16.
The agreement, signed in Beijing on September 27, 2010, is aimed at the development of bilateral cooperation in combating terrorism, separatism and extremism, and contains articles on taking joint measures in order to detect and effectively suppress activities connected to planning and carrying out terrorist attacks, the accompanying documents stated.
In particular, the agreement envisages the exchange of information within the framework of cooperation in preventing and combating the criminal activities of terrorists and extremists. Besides that, the document stipulates the exchange of information on “illegal production, storage and circulation of propaganda material, weapons, ammunition and explosive devices.” The parties are also supposed to exchange information on “the criminal organizations’ utilization of nuclear material, radioactive substances, or sources of radioactivity, poisonous, noxious and toxic chemical or biological substances for conducting terrorist attacks.” There should also be the exchange of information “on the sources and channels of financing of the criminal organizations, on the salient features and patterns of their activities, methods and modes of operation, and also on the identification data, categories and numbers of the identity documents, and the places of residence or location of the persons suspected in committing crimes of terrorism, separatism or extremism.”
At the same time, the agreement introduces the norms on assistance in investigation of criminal cases at the request of either of the parties. In addition, the exchange of equipment and the co-production of special tools and gear based on specific agreements are also stipulated.