The Strategic Defense Coalition (SDC) was a secretive Chinese-led military and political alliance of 11 Asian nations whose objective was to defend Asia against the threat posed by the United States-led NATO alliance. During the Second Cold War, the Chinese general Tian Zhao conceived the idea of an alliance between the developing nations of Pakistan, Burma, North Korea, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Mongolia, Nepal, Bhutan, Russia, India, Afghanistan, and Iran to oppose American and Western influence in the east, but the United States was able to prevent Russia, India, Afghanistan, and Iran from joining the alliance in covert military operations carried out against the SDC in India, Singapore, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Zhao's assassination by the Americans in 2025 put an end to the SDC.