ISLAMABAD – Pakistan did not participate in the inaugural session of theShanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) joint exercise on urban earthquakelinkrescue in Delhi. The session was addressed by Union Home Minister Amit Shahon Monday.

Pakistan linkexpected to participate in the drill being organised by the NationalDisaster Response Force (NDRF) from November 5-7 onwards. The exercise isthe outcome of the 9th meeting of the heads of government departments ofSCO countries dealing with the prevention and elimination of emergencysituation in Kyrgyzstan in 2017, in which India offered to organise thenext annual disaster management exercise for the region.

The countries part of SCO are China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan,Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan and India.‘3 lakh lives lost’

Mr. Shah said that during 1996-2015, more than 3 lakh people lost theirlives due to natural calamities.