Pak mobilises 50,000 troops to border for wargame

Pakistan has mobilised about 50,000 troops and air force elements for its biggest ever army exercise that will begin on Saturday along the eastern border with India.

The exercise, codenamed Azm-e-Nau (New Resolve) 3, 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," Major General 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 will be 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 Pakistani 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.