In a historic first, India could participate in military exercises in Pakistan later this year

Pakistan will hold Pabbi-Antiterror-2021, under the aegis of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation later this year. India’s participation would come amid fresh peace process between both nations.

India could take part in a multi-nation exercise to be hosted by Pakistan later this year at its premier anti-terrorism centre in Pabbi in Nowshera district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The exercise will be held under the aegis of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

If the plan goes through, it would be a historic event, given that it would be the first time that Indian forces will travel to Pakistan for any military exercise.

The development comes at a time when Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa last week stressed on the need for India and Pakistan to “bury the past and move forward”. Just weeks ago, the two countries had agreed to observe ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC).

Sources in the know remained non-committal about the actual participation of the Indian troops in the joint exercise “Pabbi-Antiterror-2021”, saying a final decision was yet to be taken.

The sources also said that the proposal is under consideration of the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS). However, they did confirm that India will be participating in a joint Army exercise under SCO umbrella in Russia later this year.

The decision to hold “Pabbi-Antiterror-2021” was announced during the 36th meeting of the Council of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, last week, China’s state-run Xinhua news agency reportedSunday.

Delegations of the competent authorities of India, Kazakhstan, China, the Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and the RATS Executive Committee attended the meeting, Xinhua said, carrying a picture of the participants.