RAWALPINDI, Pakistan: The Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa visited the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) near Kharian to witness the Closing Ceremony of the third International Pakistan Army Team Spirit (PATS) Competition 2020.
Being one of the toughest military competitions, the PATS Competition 2020 was aimed at testing survival Skills and physical limits of the participants in a short period of time spread over 62 hours including 25 field events.
Apart from Pakistan Army, Pakistan Air Force (PAF), 16 Foreign Countries including Belarus, China, Egypt, Germany, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Maldives, Palestine, Russia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Turkey, United Arab Emirates (UAE), United Kingdom, the United States, and Uzbekistan participated in the event conducted from March 1-3 in challenging terrain at the NCTC and surrounding areas.
The COAS distributed prizes among the winners and runners up.
Karachi Corps was declared overall best team, Multan Corps runner up while Rawalpindi Corps remained third. Turkey clinched the gold medal in International Teams while Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka and South Africa teams awarded the silver medal. Pakistan Air Force got the Bronze medal.
Speaking on the occasion, the COAS congratulated the participants for the successful completion of the event.
The COAS said that sharing of best experiences through a series of events will improve combat skills and help integrate armies of participant Countries.
The Army Chief emphasized that training and teamwork are the hallmark of every soldier, confronted with multifarious challenges in diverse terrain, one has to be in the best physical and mental fitness for a robust and prompt response. He said that the spirit of sacrifice and patriotism makes a force formidable in the face of any adversity.
The COAS thanked all foreign participants for being part of the event and for showing their prowess.
The Commanders Mangla and Gujranwala Corps, senior military officials from Pakistan Army, PAF and defense attaches from various countries were present on the occasion.
It is pertinent to mention that the NCTC being state of the art facility with a large capacity to impart quality training to combating terrorism, in all kinds of terrain has been recognized as a world-class training facility attracting other armies for training with Pakistan Army.
