RAWALPINDI – A joint military exercise – Druzhba 2020 – between Pakistanand Russia concluded, said ISPR on Thursday.

The closing ceremony of the fifth joint military drill was held at NationalCounter Terrorism Center near Kharian.

Russian Ambassador Danila Ganich, Inspector General Training and EvaluationLieutenant General Sher Afgun and senior Military officials from both thesides witnessed the ceremony.

Special Forces’ Pakistan-Russian Federation Contingent demonstratedreal-time skilful drills and procedures of Counter Terrorism Operations.

The two week long Durzbha-V was conducted at Tarbela and NCTC Pabbi.

During the exercise, teams shared valuable experience in Counter Terrorismdomain and displayed highest standards of training and professionalism.

Some 70 Russian troops and officers participated in the exercise thatlasted for two weeks. Almost an equal number of soldiers were participatingfrom Pakistan side.

The first-ever joint exercise between Pakistan and the Russian militarytook place in 2016.

Similarly, in September, a Pakistan armed forces’ contingent participatedin the opening ceremony of a multinational military exercise, namedKavkaz-2020, held at the Astrakhan region in Russia.

The exercise Kavkaz which lasted from September 21 to 26 aimed at assessingthe ability of troops to react to various challenges and learn from eachother’s experiences, DG ISPR Major General Babar Iftikhar said at the time.