Russia Starts Major Military Drills Involving China, Pakistan, Iran, Belarus, Myanmar and Armenia: Over 75,000 Personnel Involved

Russia initiated the Kavkaz-2020 military drills on September 21st, which according to the country’s Defence Ministry will involve almost 80,000 servicemen. Up to 1,000 personnel from friendly post-Soviet and Asian countries were also invited to participate - including China, Pakistan, Iran, Belarus, Myanmar and Armenia. Other than Pakistan, these countries have all been major clients for Russian military hardware. Representatives from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Indonesia, Iran and Sri Lanka also plan to participate as observers, and while Iranian warships will take part in naval aspects of the exercises the country’s armed forces will not be involved in ground exercises. The exercises notably involve leading members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and multiple prospective members, with Iran and Belarus in particular having shown a strong interest in joining the organisation of which Russia, China and Pakistan are already members. Although China and Russia, the two leading participants, maintain close military ties, their armed forces currently lack a level of interoperability or joint training comparable to that of the NATO alliance - or even of China and Pakistan which very frequently train together. This is expected to gradually change in future as the two major powers continue to increase cooperation in the face of major common threats ranging from terrorism to Western interventionism. This will in part be facilitated by a growing number of joint exercises, which have in many cases included third parties ranging from Mongolia to Kazakhstan - with Kavkaz-2020 being only the most recent case.