MOSCOW, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is in its essence antiterrorist and is incorrect to be compared to NATO, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in Chelyabinsk in Russia's Ural Mountains region on Friday.

　　"The comparison of the SCO to NATO does not correspond to reality, and is improper either in content or form," Putin told reporters on Friday.

　　Putin made the remarks as he observed the final stage of the "Peace Mission 2007" anti-terror drill, sponsored by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), in the Chebarkul military range near the Ural Mountain city of Chelyabinsk, with leaders of other SCO member states.

　　"The SCO was established for solving border issues between Russia and China, and we have solved them successfully. During forty years we have held talks with China, and we have been able to find solutions that suited both sides," Putin was quoted by theItar-Tass news agency as saying.

　　"The SCO has begun broadening its boundaries; it attends to political and economic matters. As for the military component, it is not properly a military, but an antiterrorist component," the president said.

　　"Regrettably, many countries of the world, including Russia, are confronted with a terrorist threat, and the latest event at the Moscow-St. Petersburg railway proves once more that we have not done everything we could to abolish this threat," Putin said.

　　According to Putin, the economic component "is coming into the foreground, and we attend to the development of the infrastructure and finances, we encourage the business activity of all member countries."

　　"Other countries show interest in work of the SCO -- Pakistan, India, Iran and Afghanistan, and they regularly send observers to SCO summits," Putin said.

　　Founded in Shanghai on June 15, 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.

　　It groups Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, China and Russia. Mongolia, Pakistan, India and Iran are observer countries at SCO meetings.