ISLAMABAD, 11 December 2006 — Pakistan and China will hold joint military exercises aimed at helping the two countries fight terrorism, the Pakistani military said yesterday.

A contingent of 200 soldiers from the People’s Republic of China arrived here yesterday to participate in the exercises beginning today. The contingent of the People’s Liberation Army arrived in Rawalpindi, adjoining Islamabad.

The joint exercises, named “Friendship — 2006, the first by Chinese troops outside their country come two weeks after a visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao to Pakistan. The two armies held such exercises in China in 2004.

“The focus of exercises will be to mutually benefit from each other’s experience in planning and conduct of anti-terrorist operations,” the military said in a statement.

“The ten-day exercises are aimed at strengthening the existing bonds of friendship between the armies of the two countries.”

It’s the first time that the People’s Liberation Army of China has come to Pakistan for such exercises, according to an official at the military’s Inter-Services Public Relations Directorate who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to make media comments.

Pakistan, a key ally in the US-led war on terrorism, is fighting militancy at home and its security forces have launched operations in the lawless tribal belt, bordering Afghanistan, against Al-Qaeda-linked militants hiding there.

China has also waged a relentless campaign against what it calls the violent separatist activities of Uighur Muslims in its far-northwestern region of Xinjiang province.

The region shares borders with Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia, Mongolia and three former Soviet Central Asian republics. China is the main supplier of conventional arms to Pakistan and analysts believe it has also supported Islamabad’s missile and nuclear weapons program.

During Hu’s visit, the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding for long-term collaboration in defense production.

During the Chinese president’s visit, the two countries agreed to jointly develop planes that use the Airborne Early Warning and Control System, or AWACS, and set up a Defense Electronics Complex that will develop electronic equipment and communication technology for military use.

Those deals were in addition to an ongoing Pakistan-China project for the co-production of JF-17 Thunder fighter aircraft.

Hu’s visit is seen by observers as very significant given the fact that China has shown interest in mediating disputes between India and Pakistan.