28 AUG, 2018 11:00 HRS UTC | SCO COUNTRIES,JOINT MILITARY DRILL 2018
MOSCOW – THE SHANGHAI COOPERATION ORGANISATION (SCO) – A Joint Military drill to counter terrorism is scheduled to begin on Wednesday by SCO members countries in RUSSIA, is the largest under the SCO charter with the participation of INDIA and PAKISTAN for the first time after the two neighboring nation became permanent members in 2017. According to Chinese experts ” the drill will be greatly contribute to stability in CENTRAL ASIA and SOUTH ASIA.
The previous SCO counter-terrorism drills were mainly limited to CENTRAL ASIA and later just after the entry of INDIA and PAKISTAN as a permanent member last year, the SCO‘s counter-terrorism mission has expanded to SOUTH ASIA – Li Wei, a Counter-Terrorism Expert at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations in BEIJING, told to Chinese media on Monday.
The SCO MEMBER NATIONS – ” JOINT MILITARY DRILL PEACE MISSION 2018″, will see the participation of at least 4,000 soldiers from CHINA, RUSSIA, KAZAKHSTAN, TAJIKISTAN, KYRGYZSTAN, INDIA and PAKISTAN, and 10 representatives from UZBEKISTAN will serve as SCO Observers.
CHINA is participating with more than seven hundred PLA Soldiers including an armored tank battle group, an air combat group and a special force group which already stationed in Chebarkul, RUSSIA since Saturday, according to PLA’s media reports.
The main areas of the joint drill include field reconnaissance, joint strikes, and counter-terrorism operations in residential areas. The drill plays a positive role in deepening defense and security cooperation among member countries, enhancing capacity in tackling new threats and challenges, and safeguarding regional peace and stability, China’s Ministry of National Defense spokesperson said at a regular press conference in July.
What is SCO? Where is its headquarter? How many countries are its member?
The SCO was established in Shanghai in 2001, with CHINA, RUSSIA, KAZAKHSTAN, TAJIKISTAN, KYRGYZSTAN and UZBEKISTAN as founding members. It expanded to include INDIA and PAKISTAN in 2017. see more details in official website (given below) of “THE SHANGHAI COOPERATION ORGANISATION – SCO “The effective counter-terrorism cooperation among SCO Countries has greatly undermined terrorist groups in Central Asia in recent years, and it’s expected that this effective cooperation will also boost stability in South Asia, a region facing a more complicated counter-terrorism situation with a variety of active terrorist groups” according to Li, a Chinese counter Terrorism Expert .
Sun Zhuangzhi, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Chinese media on Wednesday that Peace Mission 2018 will also greatly improve military and political mutual trust among SCO countries, especially between India and Pakistan.
“It’s a rare opportunity for Pakistan and India, which have long been involved in military conflict, to enhance military exchanges and trust. This could improve regional stability,” Sun said.
INDIAN soldiers to SCO PEACE MISSION 2018 have arrived in RUSSIA. The INDIAN AIR FORCE tweeted Tuesday, “New place, new environment, different language. But it took just a few moments to start understanding each other.”
The CHINESE Counter Terrorism Expert, Li suggests, future counter-terrorism drills among SCO countries have to come up with new drills on targeting terrorist groups in SOUTH ASIA. He suggested that the SCO further expand to include AFGHANISTAN, which is currently an observer country, to strengthen counter-terrorism efforts in SOUTH ASIA.
SCO PEACE MISSION 2018 also created a historic chance for four major Military Powers in EURASIA – CHINA, RUSSIA, PAKISTAN and INDIA – to participate in the same Military drill.
The Four Military Powers in EURASIA – under the vision of SCO will form joint military troops to eliminate terrorism, terror outfit , state sponsored terrorism inside CENTRAL AND SOUTH ASIAN REGION but not limited to or across the globe if threat level considers critical. SCO’s Military Drills are open and transparent and are meant to contribute to regional and world stability according to SCO doctrine.
As a general perception, Western observer should not observe SCO countries massive Military Drill as a threat to Western Powers as this is a common phenomenon or practice in a Western world which believes to continue with uni-polar World instead of supporting Multi-polar World.