Large-scale joint military exercises being held by Russian and Belarus are not aimed at anyone and are purely of a defense nature, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday.

Russian ships arrive in Venezuela for joint military exercises. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will arrive to Venezuela, Cuba and some other countries of Latin America next week.

The United States and South Korea have begun a robust week-long series of annual military exercises aimed at ensuring the two allies can deter and defeat any incursion by North Korea. As it has often done in the past, Pyongyang is condemning the exercises, calling them a rehearsal for aggression against the North.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is scheduled to begin its largest military exercise on August 9. The counterterrorism exercise will involve some 6,500 troops from the organization's member states.

India and China, who were enemies in a bloody war in 1962. have decided to start periodic joint military training exercises, an Indian Defense Ministry statement said Tuesday.

The U.S. Navy has begun its most extensive maneuvers in the Persian Gulf region since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The exercises involve two aircraft carriers -- the "USS John C. Stennis" and the "USS Dwight D. Eisenhower" -- and their battle groups.