Russia, Pak to hold joint military drills

‘FRIENDSHIP 2018’ MILITARY DRILLS WILL BE HELD IN PAKISTAN FROM OCTOBER 21 UNTIL NOVEMBER 4

NEW DELHI: Russia and Pakistan are set to conduct their third joint military exercise this month, the dates for which were officially announced just days after President Vladimir Putin’s visit to New Delhi for an annual summit with India.

The Druzhba (Friendship) 2018 drill will be held in a mountainous region near Pabbi in Pakistan’s Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province from October 21 to November 4, the head of the Russian southern military district, Vadim Astafyev, has said.

Observers noted that though such exercises are planned and scheduled months in advance, Russia had formally announced the dates for the drill with Pakistan only after the annual summit between leaders of India and Russia, which was held during October 4-5. New Delhi and Moscow finalised a $5.4 billion deal for S-400 air defence systems during Putin’s visit.

“The joint drills of units of the Russian and Pakistani armed forces ‘Friendship 2018’ will be held…at the training range of the National Counter-Terrorist Center in Pakistan’s Pabbi. More than 70 mountain shooters from Karachay-Cherkessia will take part in the drills,” Astafyev told reporters on Tuesday, according to Tass news agency.

Astafyev said the Druzhba drills have been held since 2016. Last year, more than 200 servicemen took part in the military exercise held in the North Caucasus at an altitude of 2,300 metres.

Pabbi was one of the main bases for Pakistan-backed mujahideen in the campaign against Soviet forces in Afghanistan in the 1980s. The inaugural RussiaPakistan drill caused a controversy as the two sides had originally planned to hold the opening ceremony in Gilgit-Baltistan, claimed by India as part of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir.