RAWALPINDI: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Raheel Sharif visited the National Counter-Terrorism Training Centre (NCTC) in Pabbi on Thursday and witnessed the Pakistan-Sri Lanka-Maldives exercise, an Inter-Services Public Relations press release said.

The two-week ‘Eagle Dash-I’ exercise was focused on counter-terrorism operations and sharing of field combat experiences of three armed forces.

Owing to successes achieved by Zarb-i-Azb military operation, a large number of friendly countries have requested Pakistan Army to organise training for their troops at the NCTC, which is equipped with latest facilities.

The Pakistan Army has so far conducted exercises with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, China and Jordan to enhance their combat efficiency.

Pakistani troops have also imparted counter-terrorism training to police and other law-enforcement agencies of all four provinces, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir.

The army chief congratulated the participants of the exercise for displaying high level of professionalism and combat skills.

He emphasised that such exercises would consolidate the special relationship among three forces and help eliminate terrorism from the region.

Gen Sharif said terrorism was a global phenomenon and terrorists had no country, religion or sect. Pakistan had been victim of terrorism for over a decade and sacrificed a lot but in the end, the country had turned the tide primarily because of resilience displayed by the whole nation and professionalism of the armed forces, he added.

“We are willing to share our experiences with the world for the benefit of humanity and as an obligation towards international peace.”

He said that Pakistan Army had also taken the initiative of providing counter-terrorism training to the personnel of police and other law-enforcement agencies in Pakistan in an effort to enhance their capacity and make them capable of dealing with this menace in an efficient manner.

Praising the performance and potential of the trainees, he said such training would enhance the confidence of law-enforcement agencies.

Foreign military delegates from Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives and South Africa witnessed the exercise and lauded professionalism of Pakistan Army.

Published in Dawn, February 5th, 2016