Multi-country military exercise ‘Eternal Brotherhood-II’ begins in Barotha

With an aim to further cement military-to-military ties among the friendly countries and benefit from each other’s experience against terrorism, a two-week long multi-national special forces exercise “Eternal Brotherhood-II" kicked off in Punjab’s Barotha, said Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Tuesday.

According to the military’s media wing, special forces contingents from Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Qatar, Turkey and Uzbekistan are participating in the exercise.

Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Syed Asim Munir attended the opening ceremony and interacted with exercising participants. During the visit, the army chief was briefed on the scope and conduct of the exercise by the general officer commanding special service group, the ISPR added.

It further said that the exercise is aimed at further harnessing the historic military-to-military relations among the friendly countries, including nurturing of joint employment concept, while identifying areas of mutual interest for future military collaborations and benefitting from each other’s experience against terrorism.

‘Junior leaders are backbone of Pakistan Army’

Prior to visiting Brotha, the army chief visited the Junior Leadership Academy (JLA) — the centre of excellence for the training of non-commissioned officers — in Shinkiari and laid a floral wreath at Yadgaar-e-Shuhada.

Addressing the participants of the academy Gen Munir remarked, “Junior leaders are the backbone of the Pakistan Army and are key to success in conventional and unconventional warfare.”

“Our standard of professionalism and leadership is par excellence compared to any modern army of the world. Junior leaders of the Pakistan Army have proven their mettle in the fields of training, operations and world-class competitions across the world”, the COAS concluded.

On arrival at JLA and Brotha, Gen Munir was received by the inspector general training and evaluation, the statement also read.