India will also participate in counter-terrorism exercises by member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization starting next week in Pakistan. To participate in this joint exercise, a three-member Indian team will go to Pabbi in Nowshera district in Pakistan. The name of this joint exercise is 'Pabbi Anti Terror Exercise 2021', which is scheduled to start from 3 October.
According to the news of TOI, India has decided to join this joint exercise despite the strained relations with Pakistan. In fact, the Government of India believes that the participation of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in this exercise does not make any difference to Pakistan's stand on the issue of cross-border terrorism. Rather, India's presence in this exercise will reflect the importance of New Delhi on security related issues in Central Asia, especially Afghanistan.
Apart from Russia, India, China, Pakistan, Iran will also participate in the exercise of this group. It is believed that this group can play an important role in finding a solution regarding the situation in Afghanistan.
The joint exercise was announced after a meeting of the Council of RATS in Tashkent in March this year, in which India is the last country to confirm participation. Under the SCO protocol, Pakistan had invited all the member countries including India for joint exercises. However, soldiers of any country will not participate in this exercise. In this exercise, India will likely send officials of the National Security Council Secretariat.
This joint SCO exercise is taking place at a time when relations between India and Pakistan are going from bad to worse. This year both the sides signed a ceasefire agreement, but despite this, the firing from Pakistan did not stop. The Indian Army has caught a Pakistani terrorist from near the LoC this week.
