LAHORE – Two traditional rivals in the South Asian region, Pakistan andIndia are set to make history this year by taking part in a one-of-a-kindjoint military exercise under the umbrella of the Shanghai CooperationOrganisation (SCO) in Russia.

In the drill titled “Peace Mission 2018”, which is going to be started inAugust-end, the soldiers of both countries will fight jointly to eliminateterrorists, foil possible attacks. They will also test combat readiness.The exercise will end in first week of September.

While Indian and Pakistani military officials have operated together in theforeign lands under the flag of the United Nations, this will be a rareevent when both countries will conduct the drill along with other SCOmembers China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

Islamabad and New Delhi became the full members of the SCO in June, 2017 atthe Astana summit in Kazakhstan where then Pakistani prime minister NawazSharif and Indian Premier Narendra Modi represented their countries.

The forum was established in 2001 by China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia,and Tajikistan, aiming at political, economic, military cooperation,coordination and solidarity in Eurasia.

By joining the SCO, Pakistan and India have become part of theTashkent-based Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure (RATS) which holds suchmilitary drills. Under the RATS, both countries are liable to shareintelligence information on terror.

This drill is held in every two years and “Peaceful Mission 2018” will bethe fifth edition of the multilateral exercise. The first SCO militaryexercise Peace Mission-2007 was held in the southern Urals.

Being the host country, Russia is expected to participate in the drill withhuge numbers of soldiers and weapons, while China is expected to send aboutfive hundred soldiers.