Islamabad: More than 50,000 Pakistani
troops backed by tanks and artillery and air force elements
today began their biggest ever wargames codenamed Azm-e-Nau 3
along the eastern border with India.
Azm-e-Nau (New Resolve) 3 exercise is aimed at
training troops for the threat of a conventional war with
India, military officials said.
The wargame, to continue till May 13, will be the
largest manoeuvres conducted by the Pakistan Army since the
Zarb-e-Momin exercise in 1989.
"These exercises will be focussed only on
conventional war on (Pakistan`s) eastern border," Maj Gen
Muzammil Hussain, the Director General of Military Training,
told the media earlier this week.
The six-week field exercise will involve troops from
all arms and services and aircraft and equipment of the
Pakistan Air Force. It is being conducted in Punjab and Sindh
provinces, which border India.
The manoeuvres will also test the army`s
"preparedness to face new challenges and give the soldiers a
real feel of a warfare mission," state-run APP news agency
reported.
The exercise is also the culmination of a process of
wargames, discussions and evolution of a concept of warfare
that is "fully responsive to a wide menu of emerging threats,"
the report said.
The training will be mission-oriented and based on
the prevailing security environment. The Pakistan Air Force`s
ongoing High Mark 2010 exercise will be fully integrated with
the army wargame.
The exercise is also aimed at validating and refining
concepts formulated during the year of training initiated by
army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.
Pakistan has already informed India about the
manoeuvres. The Pakistan Army has traditionally perceived
India as its main threat though security experts, including
those from the US, have said the force now needs to focus on
tackling the Taliban and other militant groups active along
the western border with Afghanistan.
PTI
