RAWALPINDI: The opening ceremony of the first-ever Pakistan-Egypt joint air defence exercise “Sky Guard-1” 2021 was held in Egypt’s capital Cairo, ISPR said on Friday.
According to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), “The two-week-long joint exercise is aimed to bolster the military cooperation between two countries in face of existing and emerging threats in the air defence domain.”
The military’s media wing said, “The exercise will focus on greater integration, interoperation ability, synergy, information gathering, decision making of air defence tentacles to generate a comprehensive response against multiple hostile air threats in battle.”
The ISPR said that the participating troops will exchange operational drills and procedures to meet the future battlefield environment. It further said that the troops of Pakistani and Egyptian air defence tentacles will participate in the first-ever joint air defence exercise between the two friendly countries.
Director General Joint Staff Headquarters Lieutenant General Muhammad Chirag Haider witnessed the opening ceremony. Egyptian Chief of Air Defence Major General Mohamed Hagezy Abdel Magwood along with other military officials from both countries was also present on the occasion.
Earlier, a contingent of Russian Special Forces had arrived in Pakistan for a two-week joint military exercise codenamed ‘Bruzhba 5’.
“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 counterterrorism domain,” the ISPR said in a statement.
The military wing said, “The exercise is part of Pak-Russia military cooperation. The fourth edition of ‘Bruzhba’ was held in Russia in October last year. The defence relations between the two countries have been strengthened since the signing of defence cooperation pact in 2014,” it added.
The Russian defence ministry said the exercise was aimed to strengthen military cooperation between the two countries, and it was being held under the framework of international military cooperation.
The drills would formally commence on 8th November in Tarbela. Around 70 Russian troops and officers are participating in the exercise that would continue till 21st November. An equal number of Pakistani soldiers are participating in the drills.
“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.
Sky diving and rescuing hostages by Special Forces of the two countries will be the highlight of the exercise. These exercises have been regularly held since 2016 alternating between Pakistan and Russia. Pakistan is hosting the drills for the third time, while Russia has held the war games twice.
