Pakistan, Russian joint military drills in full swing at Tarbela

The special forces of Pakistan Russian Federation pressed ahead with their two-week long military exercise at Tarbela, said Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Tuesday.

According to a tweet posted by Director General ISPR, the Pakistan-Russia joint exercise Druzhba-V was under way at Tarbela.

Pakistan - Russian Federation Special Forces joint exercise #DRUZHBA-V underway at Tarbela. The participating troops busy in practicing Counter Terrorism drills and procedures, rappelling and preparations for sky diving. Sports activities are also part of exercise. pic.twitter.com/538ugAzQhP

— DG ISPR (@OfficialDGISPR) November 10, 2020

The participating soldiers were busy in heavily practising the counter-terrorism drills and procedures, rappelling and preparations for the skydiving.

According to the DG ISPR, sports activities were also part of the two-way exercise.

On Sunday last, the special forces of Pakistan and Russian launched their weeks-long counter-terrorism exercise. The opening ceremony of DRUZHBA-V was held at Tarbela with the members of the Pakistani and Russian special forces participated in the two-week exercise.

The ceremony was attended by Russian Ambassador to Pakistan Danila Ganich. Senior officials from both the armies were also present on the occasion.

Opening ceremony of DRUZHBA - V held at Tarbela today. Pak-Russian Federation Special Forces are participating in two weeks long counter terrorism exercise. National anthems of both countries were played at the start of the ceremony. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/bgBKctv1zZ

— DG ISPR (@OfficialDGISPR) November 8, 2020

The Russian special forces’ contingent landed in Pakistan on Friday and the ISPR said: “The exercise is aimed at sharing both armies’ experiences in counter terrorism domain.”

 Skydiving and hostage rescue operations will be the highlights of exercise Druzhba, Pakistan Army’s spokesperson said.

…The ceremony was attended by Russian ambassador to Pakistan, Mr Danila Ganich. Senior officials from both the armies were present on the occasion. (2/2) pic.twitter.com/e13m1mdzQr

— DG ISPR (@OfficialDGISPR) November 8, 2020

It is pertinent to note that Pakistan participated in the opening ceremony of multinational military exercises in Russia’s Astrakhan region held in September this year.

A contingent of 20 Pakistani commandos took part in the opening ceremony of Kavkaz-2020. The military drills were conducted from Sept 21-26 aim to assess ability of troops to react to various challenges and learn from each other’s experiences.