Russian, Pakistani soldiers to hold military drills next week in Pakistan: report

Russia and Pakistan will hold military drills at a training range in the mountains of Pakistan's Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province from October 21 to November 4, a Russian military official said Tuesday.

Russian-Pakistani military drills "Friendship 2018" will be held in the mountains of Pakistan from October 21 until November 4, head of the Russian Southern Military District Vadim Astafyev was quoted as saying by the official Tass News Agency.

Pakistan's defence ties with Russia have moved past the bitter Cold War hostilities in recent years and the chill in the relations between Pakistan and the US has further pushed the country towards Russia and China.

The joint drills of units of the Russian and Pakistani armed forces will be held at the training range of the National Counter-Terrorist Center in the Pakistani city of Pabbi in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.

More than 70 mountain shooters from Karachay-Cherkessia will take part in the drills, Astafyev said.

The servicemen from the two countries' armed forces will perform tasks at the altitude of 1,400 meters above the sea level, the report said.

Astafyev noted that the "Friendship" drills between Russia and Pakistan have been held since 2016.

In 2017, over 200 servicemen took part in the drills. The military exercise was held in the North Caucasus on the altitude of 2,300 metres above the sea level.

Pakistan has shown eagerness to build military-to-military level ties with Russia.

In August, Pakistan and Russia signed an agreement for the first time to allow Pakistani troops to receive training at Russian military training institutes.

The agreement was signed during the visit of Deputy Defense Minister of Russia Colonel General Alexander Fomin to Islamabad to participate in the first Russia-Pakistan Joint Military Consultative Committee (JMCC) meeting on security and defence.