ISLAMABAD/NEW DELHI – Indian forces could participate in joint militarylink being held in Pabbi,near Mangla Cantonment under the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO),according to media reports.
The news of this development came days after Islamabad and New Delhi arethawing and if the plan goes through it would be the first event thatIndian forces will travel to Pakistanlink for any militarylink exercise.
Reports in Indian media suggest the decision about the actual participationof the Indian troops in the joint exercise is non-committal for time beingas a final decision was yet to be taken in New Delhi.
The drills were announced during the 36th meeting of the Council of theRegional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) which held in Uzbekistan on March18. Besides India link, China andRussia will also take part in the drills.
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It aimed to strengthen mutual confidence, interoperability and enablesharing of best practices among armed forces of the SCO nations.
Forces of eight nations will arrive in the south Asian country later in thesecond half of the year at the National Counter Terrorismlink Centre (NCTC). NCTC islocated near Kharian, a militarylink station, and headquarters ofan infantry division, the training institution comes under the directsupervision of the Kharian Division and Mangla Corps.