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Pak-US to conduct joint military
exercises from October 15

Dubbed 'Inspired Gambit', the exercises - the first since Washington lifted sanctions against Islamabad late last year - would involve a US infantry company and a Pakistani infantry battalion, US embassy officials said in Islamabad.

The three-week long exercises would be held in the Jhelum and Kharian regions in Pakistan's Punjab province, they said.

Pakistani officials said their army attaches a great deal of importance to the exercises as it considered them operationally significant. The 'company-level' exercises would follow the operational cycle of military co-ordination, planning, execution and de-briefing.

One of the most important objectives was to see how well the Pakistani army had incorporated modern warfare technology.

The two countries had initially planned tri-services exercises involving the army, air force and navy, for July and August this year. However, the plan did not take off for some unspecified reasons.

The US resumed military ties with Pakistan after the latter agreed to reverse its policy against Afghanistan's Taliban regime in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks on American cities and joined the international coalition against terrorism.

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