SCO Peace Mission 2018 Russia: India-Pakistan conducted first joint anti-terror drill

SCO Peace Mission 2018: India-Pakistan conducted the first joint anti-terror exercise in Russia: Details, Aim, Purpose

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Peace Mission 2018 s being conducted by the Central Military Commission of Russia from 22 August to 29 August 2018 at Chebarkul, Russia

The SCO Peace Mission 2018 exercise saw the Military contingents of the all eight SCO member nations (China, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, India, and Pakistan).

The Pakistan contingent comprises 110 members, while the strength of the Chinese contingent is of 748 personnel.

The 200-member strong Indian contingent has 167 Indian Army personnel including four women officers and 33 personnel from the Indian Air Force.

This was for the first time since independence that India and Pakistan jointly took part in any military exercise together, although they had earlier worked together in United Nations (UN) peacekeeping missions.

India is participating in the exercise for the first time since becoming a full member of the SCO in June 2017. As part of the SCO initiatives, the SCO Peace Mission Exercise is conducted biennially for the SCO member states.

The SCO Peace Mission 2018 exercise involved tactical level operations in an international counterinsurgency or counter-terrorism environment under the SCO Charter. Around a total of 3,000 soldiers from all member states participated in the exercise.

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)

Formation: 15th June 2001

Headquarters: Beijing, China

Secretary-General: Rashid Alimov

Member Countries: 8 (China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan)