The People's Liberation Army (PLA) and the Armed Forces of Pakistan will hold an anti-terrorism exercise in the first half of August, military sources said in Beijing on Thursday.

 

The exercise will be in Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, which is located in the Pamir Mountains at an elevation of over 4,000 meters. The area lies at the border of Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

 

The drills are not aimed at any third party, said an anonymous official at the Pakistan Embassy. The official also said that Pakistan's most advanced weapons would be employed during the exercise.

 

Information concerning the exact date, duration and number of troops involved was not released.

 

The exercise is being conducted to strengthen cooperation between the two countries and armies, improve their capacity to combat terrorism jointly, and to contain and clean up the forces of separatism, extremism and terrorism, a Chinese military source said.

 

In a joint declaration signed last year, China and Pakistan agreed that separatism, extremism and terrorism pose serious threats to regional security and stability. They will actively support and facilitate substantial cooperation in nontraditional security with a view to safeguarding regional stability.

 

As a frontline state, Pakistan has been a member of the international antiterrorism coalition since the terrorist attacks on the United States in September 2001.

 

China fully supports combating international terrorism and also expresses its complete support for Pakistan's principled policy to assist the international community in the fight against terrorism.

 

In 2002, China established a principle of gradual participation in multilateral military exercises to broaden its security cooperation with other countries.

 

This principle has been put into practice with frequent joint military exercises and high-level military cooperation, such as the first joint naval exercises with Pakistan off the coast of Shanghai, China's commercial hub, last October.

 

(China Daily July 30, 2004)