Pakistani daily hails planned joint military exercise with India

Islamabad, May 1 (IANS) An upcoming joint military exercise between Indian and Pakistani troops is a promise in the novel progression of New Delhi-Islamabad ties, a leading daily said on Tuesday.

The exercise will take place under the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), The Nation daily said in an editorial.

This is the first time the militaries of the two countries will come together for a joint effort since Independence in 1947.

"The new-fangled initiative is far from an independent cognisant initiative on the part of both the countries at mitigating grievances, and is in fact an enterprise broached under the aegis of the SCO," it said.

The editorial has welcomed the initiative for thawing of hostilities between the two nations due to alleged ceasefire violations across the Line of Control (LoC).

It also hailed the Indian media for "proclaiming the collaboration as positive turn in the bilateral relationship", adding the "sentiment must be reciprocated".

"Where the exercises aim to build trust and mutual understanding, with eye towards coming up with a formula to manage border affairs, any endeavour in this area between the two acrimonious neighbours can go a long way in side stepping their tenuous relationship," the editorial said.

The editorial said that at a time when even the two Koreas have agreed to denuclearise the Peninsula, "the idea of a truly amicable Pakistan-India engagement may not be the stuff of dreams".

"Even though it might be too optimistic to ascribe all hopes of an all-out compromise on this one venture, it is nevertheless a first in the strained Pakistan-India relationship and should be carried forth outside the ambit of multi-nation forums," it concluded.

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