Pak Army to join China-hosted peacekeeping exercise

BEIJING: The Pakistan Army will participate in the “Common Destiny 2021” international peacekeeping exercise to be held in China from September 6-15, Spokesperson of China’s Ministry of National Defence, Senior Col Tan Kefei said on Thursday.

China, Pakistan, Mongolia, Thailand and other countries will send more than 1,000 troops to participate in the 10-day exercise hosted by the Chinese military at PLA 90 Queshan Tactical Training Base.

The exercise covers and involves infantry, rapid response, security, helicopters, engineers, transport, medical and other major peacekeeping forces, Snr Col Tan said during his monthly briefing.

The spokesperson said the topic of the exercise is joint operations of multinational peacekeeping forces. The exercise will be based on “real scene” and set up in accordance with international, professional and actual combat standards.

He said the main exercises include battlefield reconnaissance, patrol, armed escort, protection of civilians, response to violent terrorist attacks, temporary operation base construction, battlefield rescue and epidemic situation management.

It aims to respond to the UN Action for Peacekeeping initiative, promote practical cooperation among peacekeeping troop contributors and jointly enhance the capability of peacekeeping standby forces to carry out their tasks. He said China is a firm supporter and active participant of UN peacekeeping operations. Recently, UN Deputy Secretary-General and other officials spoke highly of the outstanding contribution made by the Blue Helmets in UN peacekeeping operations.