Russian troops arrive for drill with Pakistan military

Pakistan and Russia’s armed forces will hold a joint military exercise code-named Druzhba or Friendship Five for two weeks, the Inter-Services Public Relations said.

“Russian Federation Special Forces’ contingent arrived in Pakistan for two weeks long joint exercise Druzhba 5. The exercise is aimed at sharing both armies’ experiences in the counterterrorism domain,” said the ISPR

“During the exercise, the military personnel of the two countries will exchange experience and work out interaction in performing tasks within the framework of training combat operations, in particular, to destroy illegal armed formations,” the Russian defence ministry said in a statement.

Sky diving and hostage rescue operations will be highlights of the exercise, the ISPR statement said.

Pakistan and Russia have conducted these exercises regularly since 2016 alternating between Pakistan and Russia. Pakistan is hosting the drills for the third time. Russia has, meanwhile, held the war games twice before.

“This year, due to the epidemiological situation in the world, the stages of the exercise will be held in compliance with all measures to prevent spread of the new coronavirus infection. All Russian military personnel were tested for Covid-19 before leaving for the exercise,” the Russian defence ministry said.

The Russian Armed Forces were formed in 1992. It is the most powerful military in Europe, and is one of the world’s largest military forces. According to some sources, Russia has the world’s second-most powerful military. The Russian Armed Forces also possess the largest stockpile of nuclear warheads in the world.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Army has approximately 560,000 active-duty personnel, supported by the Army Reserve and National Guard — effectively making it the sixth-largest army in the world in terms of manpower.

Citizens can enlist for voluntary military service upon reaching 16 years of age and cannot be deployed for combat until age 18 in accordance with the Constitution of Pakistan.