International PATS exercise begins at NCTC Pabbi: ISPR

The 7th International Pakistan Army Team Spirit (PATS) Exercise-2024 kicked off on Sunday with its opening ceremony held at the National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC), Pabbi in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

The director general of Military Training opened the 60-hour-long Patrolling Exercise which aims at enhancing military-to-military cooperation under a complex international security environment, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.

A total of 20 friendly countries including military observers are participating in the event. Major participants include Pakistan, Bahrain, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Maldives, Morocco, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Turkiye, United States of America and Uzbekistan while Azerbaijan, Belarus, China, Myanmar, Germany, Indonesia, Japan and Oman will witness the exercise as military observers, the military's media wing said.

The Pakistan Army Team Spirit is a mission-specific and task-oriented professional military exercise organised annually in Pakistan. The exercise calls for the highest standard of physical fitness, mental agility/ robustness, and professional military expertise for quick decision-making in varied situations during the conduct of challenging missions in a near real environment.

"The aim and objectives of this exercise revolve around perseverance acclaimed through the team spirit. The exercise would help hone basic soldierly attributes besides interoperability through sharing of innovative ideas and mutual best practices," the ISPR added.