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Pak Military Engages in Biggest War Exercise in 21 Years

All branches of Pakistani military have conducted a war game, the largest military exercise in 21 years, hinting that the country continues to be a security threat for India, said media reports.

In a dusty yet impressive display of conventional firepower, in ‘Azm-e-Nau 3’ (New Resolve 3), army and air force demonstrated a show on the edge of the Cholistan Desert, less than 100 km (60 miles) from the Indian border on the weekend, reports said.

Fighter jets roared overhead, shots rang out and tanks lumbered through the desert sands, said reports.

Reports said that the Pakistan Air Force’s F-16s, French Mirages and Chinese-made F-7PGs engaged imaginary targets on the ground with a hail of bombs and missiles.

In an address to the visitors later, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani admired military, saying that the integrity and security of the country ‘are in safe hands’, reports said.

Nearly 50,000 troops are participating in the exercise, which began on April 10 and will end on May 13. The exercise is both a warning and a show of confidence to India and the rest of the world.

Analysts said that the demonstration of tank brigades and anti-aircraft missiles is not only a signal of military might, but also one that Pakistan won’t be told what to do by outside powers, said reports.

“I think to the world this is the signal” Moeed Yusuf, South Asia advisor for the Washington-based US Institute of Peace, was quoted as saying by Reuters. “That, ‘Our threat perception comes from us. Once we decide that threat perception, we’re willing to work with you, but within that framework if you try to push us out of that, and say forget about India, too bad. It’s not going to happen’.”

AFP quoted retired Lieutenant General Kamal Matinuddin, a defence analyst, as saying: “The exercise seems to have nothing to do with the western borders.”

“The way the military demonstrated its prowess by quickly mobilising troops and the war machinery showed the war games are actually focusing on the eastern borders,” he was quoted as saying.

“Our armed forces must be capable of responding to emerging challenges on the eastern border by devising new tactics in response to new Indian strategy,” he was quoted as saying.

However, Gurmeet Kanwal, a retired Indian brigadier general who now runs the Centre for Land War Studies in Delhi, said that Pakistan is no longer a threat to India, which is increasingly focusing on its northern front with China, reports said.

“India is now focusing increasingly on the northern front with China as the long-term military threat,” he was quoted a saying. “Pakistan is down and almost out and no longer capable of threatening India militarily. It is only capable of continuing to wage a proxy war through mercenary jihadis.”

(Based on internet reports)

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