SCO ANTI-TERROR EXERCISE HOSTED BY INDIA OFFICIALS

• Pakistan has been invited to the closing ceremony, on October 13, of the ongoing Joint Anti-Terror Exercise (JATE) within the ambit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) being hosted by India, official and diplomatic sources confirmed.
• “Pakistan delegation has been extended an invitation for the closing ceremony on the last day of JATE ‘Manesar Anti-terror 2022’,”
• The National Security Guard (NSG) is hosting the multinational JATE “Manesar Anti-Terror 2022”, under the framework of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) at the NSG Manesar Garrison.
• It is understood that a Pakistan team is participating in the event as a member of the SCO, an official source said.
• India also participated in the RATS meet that Pakistan organised last year, the source noted.
• An Indian delegation had participated in the closing ceremony of the two-week JATE-2021 hosted by Pakistan at the National Counter Terrorism Centre, Pabbi, in Khyber Pukhtunkhwa, in September 2021.
• The exercise is aimed at exchanging expertise, best practices and build synergy between the Counter Terrorism Forces of the SCO RATS member countries to enhance capabilities for conducting anti-terrorist operations and countering other security threats collectively, the NSG said in a statement.
• In May, counter-terror officials of Pakistan, Russia, China and four Central Asian countries met in Delhi under the structure as India assumed its role as Chairperson of the SCO-RATS mechanism in October 2021.
• JATE is an annual counter terrorist exercise held within the framework of the SCO RATS.
• The statement issued by NSG on Sunday said that Stage-1 of the exercise was conducted from July 27 to August 01, 2022 by the National Counter Terrorism Forces (NCTF) of SCO member countries in their respective territories.
• “Stage-2 of the Exercise is being conducted from October 8 to 13 at NSG Manesar Garrison, in which eight representatives from NCTF of Republic of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Republic of Uzbekistan, Russian Federation and NSG of Republic of India are participating,” a statement issued by NSG on Sunday stated.
• The exercise will be witnessed by four “observers” from Executive Committee (EC) of RATS and one observer from State Committee for National Security of Tajikistan.

SOURCE: THE HINDU, THE ECONOMIC TIMES, PIB