India to participate in SCO military exercises

In a first, as recently announced by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, India is to participate in a multi-nation military exercise to be conducted in Russia during September 2018. Addressing the Defence Ministers’ meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Beijing on 24 April, she stated, “We are guided in our relations with China (as per) consensus reached between our leaders that at the time of global uncertainty,

India-China relations could be a factor of stability and that we must not allow our differences to become disputes.” Although India along with China, Pakistan, Russia and several other countries are a part of the SCO bloc of largely Asian countries, this will be first ever exercise which will have the militaries of India and Pakistan taking part in anti-terrorist exercises. This exercise Peace Mission 2018 is scheduled to begin in end August at Russia’s Ural Mountains and slated to conclude in the first week of September.