Pakistan PM, army chief at military drill

(16 Nov 2016) Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Army Chief Gen. Raheel Sharif travelled Wednesday to a strategic area along the border with India to observe a drill meant to display the country's military might amid escalating tensions with New Delhi over the disputed Kashmir region.
Dubbed "Strike of Thunder", the exercise featured planes, tanks, artillery and other heavy weapons.
The drill, in the Khairpur Tamiwali desert area near the district or Bahawalpur, came three days after Indian fire in Kashmir killed seven Pakistani soldiers in a new escalation between the two nuclear-armed rivals.
The two sides have traded fire repeatedly in recent weeks across the Line of Control, which divides the Himalayan region into India-and Pakistani-controlled zones.
Both Pakistan and India claim Kashmir in its entirety.
In a speech at the drill, Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif issued a veiled warning to India, saying that Pakistan would deliver a "befitting response" to any hostile enemy action.
Tensions between the two countries have run high since Indian troops killed a Kashmiri militant leader in July.
The killing ignited some of the most violent protests in years, and dozens of people have been killed in India's resulting crackdown.


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