NEW DELHI — India is likely to send a three-member team to participate inan anti-terrorism exercise in Pakistan that is being hosted under thebanner of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) next week.
The Pabbi Anti-Terror Exercise 2021 is being held in Pabbi in Pakistan’sNowshera District from October 3 under the aegis of the SCO RegionalAnti-Terrorist Structure (RATS), which seeks to promote counter-terrorismcooperation among the SCO member states.
The Indian government believes that its participation in the exercise willnot in any way dilute its position cross-border terrorism.
With Iran too joining the group consisting of Russia, India, China,Pakistan and 4 Central Asian countries as full members, SCO is likely toplay a key role in the efforts for a political and diplomatic solution tothe situation in Afghanistan.
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India was apparently the last country to confirm its participation in theexercise which was announced in March this year following a meeting of theCouncil of RATS in Tashkent. In line with the SCO protocol, Pakistan hadinvited all member-states, including India, for the exercise which doesn’tinvolve troops and is meant to identify and suppress channels that financeterrorist activities. India is likely to be represented by officials of theNational Security Council Secretariat in the exercise.
The SCO exercise will take place at a time India-Pakistan ties seem to begoing from bad to worse despite the thaw witnessed in February this yearwhen the two sides reached a ceasefire agreement.
