China, Pakistan hold high-altitude army drills with Beijing-supplied arms

In a landmark move, China and Pakistan have kicked off their inaugural joint military exercise, dubbed Karakoram 2026, in the high-altitude region of Xinjiang. China and Pakistan launched their first joint army exercise in a high-altitude region of China's Xinjiang, with all weapons and military equipment used in the drills supplied by Beijing, Chinese state media reported on Thursday.The exercise, named Karakoram 2026, began with an opening ceremony at a training base in Korla, in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region of northwestern China. The two countries have held annual joint air force and naval exercises, but this marks their first joint army training exercise, according to Chinese military officials.State-run CCTV reported that the drills involve several categories of Chinese military equipment, including Type 191 rifles, Type 201 squad machine guns, Type 11 armoured assault vehicles and Type 08 infantry fighting vehicles. Artillery systems, unmanned platforms and anti-drone systems have also been deployed.China is Pakistan's largest arms supplier, providing more than 80 per cent of the weapons supplied to the country's three armed services, according to the report.High-alti...