Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa visited training area near Kharian to witness closing ceremony of International Pakistan Army Team Spirit (PATS) competition.

Being one of the toughest military competitions, PATS was aimed at testing survival skills and physical limits of the participants in a short period of time spread over 62 hours including 25 field events.

Apart from Pakistan Army, PAF, 16 foreign countries including Belarus, China, Egypt, Germany, Indonesia, KSA, Maldives, Palestine, Russia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Turkey, UAE, UK, USA and Uzbekistan participated in the event conducted from March 1-3 in challenging terrain at NCTC and surrounding areas.

The Army Chief distributed prizes among the winners and runner-up, said a statement issued by the ISPR in Rawalpindi on Wednesday.

Karachi Corps was declared overall best team, Multan Corps runner-up while Rawalpindi Corps remained 3rd. Turkey clinched the gold medal in International Teams while King of Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka and South African teams awarded silver medals. Pakistan Air Force got the bronze medal.

Speaking on the occasion, General Bajwa congratulated the participants for successful completion of the event. The Army Chief said that sharing of best experiences through a series of events will improve combat skills and help integrate armies of participant countries.

Training and teamwork are the hallmark of every soldier, confronted with multifarious challenges in diverse terrain, one has to be in the best physical and mental fitness for a robust and prompt response, the COAS emphasised and said that spirit of sacrifice and patriotism makes a force formidable in the face of any adversity.

General Bajwa thanked all foreign participants for being part of the event and for showing their prowess.

Commanders Mangla and Gujranwala Corps, senior military officials from Pakistan Army, PAF and defence attaches from various countries were present on the occasion.

It is pertinent to mention that National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) being state of the art facility with a large capacity to impart quality training to combating terrorism, in all kinds of terrain has been recognized as a world-class training facility attracting other armies for training with Pakistan Army.