Islamabad, Pakistan: Pakistani delegation headed by Pervez Khattak, Defence Minister witnessed multinational exercise KAVKAZ 2020 at Astrkhan, Russia.
Lieutenant General Azhar Saleh Abbasi, Chief of Logistic Staff was also part of the delegation, reports DND News Agency while citing an official statement of Inter-Service Public Relations (ISPR) of Pakistan Armed Forces.
The statement further said that Defence Minister Pervez Khattak met Pakistan and Chinese participants of the exercise.
Delegates from various participating countries were present on the occasion.
It may be mentioned that this week Russia and six other countries are carrying out a largescale military exercise called Kavkaz-2020 (Caucasus 2020). This exercise will take place predominantly in Russia’s Southern Military District.
Approximately 80,000 soldiers are participating in the exercise. The vast majority of these troops are from Russia, but soldiers from Armenia, Belarus, China, Iran, Myanmar, and Pakistan are also part of it. India promised to be a part of these military drills but withdrew from it under US directions.
Drills involve 250 tanks, almost 500 armored personnel carriers, around 200 pieces of artillery, and ships from both the Russian and Iranian navies.
Russia is a member of the Organization for Security Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Normally, under the organization’s guidelines, any military exercise exceeding 13,000 troops requires international observers from the OSCE. However, the Kremlin declared that the number of frontline soldiers participating in the exercise at any one time will not exceed the 13,000-troop limit so no OSCE observers will be present.
The scope of the Kavkaz-2020 is wide. There will be live-fire exercises with tanks and artillery. Paratrooper drops and amphibious landings will take place. There will be drills in electronic and drone warfare. Naval maneuvers will take place in the Black Sea and the Caspian.
