The opening ceremony of the 9th International Pakistan Army Team Spirit (PATS) Competition-2026 was held at the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), Pabbi, marking the formal start of a 60-hour-long patrolling exercise.

According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), 24 international teams from 19 friendly countries, along with military observers, are participating in the competition.

The participating countries include Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Maldives, Morocco, Nepal, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Turkiye, the United States and Uzbekistan.

In addition, Indonesia, Myanmar and Thailand are taking part as observers.

At the national level, 16 teams from the Pakistan Army and Pakistan Navy are competing in the exercise, while observers from the Pakistan Air Force are also monitoring the event.

PATS is a mission-specific and task-oriented professional military exercise hosted annually in Pakistan. It is designed to test participants’ physical fitness, mental resilience, professional competence and rapid decision-making skills in a near-real operational environment.

The main objective of the exercise is to promote perseverance through team spirit, strengthen core soldiering skills and enhance interoperability among participating forces through the exchange of ideas, experiences and best practices.

ISPR said the competition aims to deepen military-to-military cooperation and improve coordination among friendly armed forces.