The People's Liberation Army (PLA) and the Armed Forces of
Pakistan will hold an anti-terrorism exercise in the first half of
August, military sources said in Beijing on Thursday.
The exercise will be in Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County of Xinjiang
Uygur Autonomous Region, which is located in the Pamir
Mountains at an elevation of over 4,000 meters. The area lies at
the border of Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The drills are not aimed at any third party, said an anonymous
official at the Pakistan Embassy. The official also said that
Pakistan's most advanced weapons would be employed during the
exercise.
Information concerning the exact date, duration and number of
troops involved was not released.
The exercise is being conducted to strengthen cooperation
between?the two countries?and armies, improve their
capacity to combat terrorism jointly, and to contain and clean up
the forces of separatism, extremism and terrorism, a Chinese
military source said.
In a joint declaration signed last year,
China and Pakistan agreed that separatism, extremism and
terrorism pose serious threats to regional security and stability.
They will actively support and facilitate substantial cooperation
in nontraditional security with a view to safeguarding regional
stability.
As a frontline state, Pakistan has been a member of the
international antiterrorism coalition since the terrorist attacks
on the United States in September 2001.
China fully supports combating international terrorism and also
expresses its complete support for Pakistan's principled policy to
assist the international community in the fight against
terrorism.
In 2002, China established a principle of gradual participation
in multilateral military exercises to broaden its security
cooperation with other countries.
This principle has been put into practice with frequent joint
military exercises and high-level military cooperation, such as the
first joint naval exercises with Pakistan off the coast of
Shanghai, China's commercial hub, last October.
(China Daily July 30, 2004)