“A contingent of Russian ground forces arrived in Pakistan for first ever Pak—Russian joint exercise from September 24 to October 10,” army spokesman Lt—Gen Asim Bajwa tweeted along with some photographs of the Russian and Pakistan troops. Russia and Pakistan came together on Friday for theirfirst-ever joint military exercise called 'Friendship 2016' in a development that will be watched keenly in both Delhi and Washington DC. The Russian embassy in New Delhi, in a statement, said: "Contrary to some reports appearing in a section of the press, the Russia-Pakistan anti-terror exercise is not being held and will not be held in any point of so-called "Azad Kashmir" or in any other sensitive or problematic areas like Gilgit and Baltistan." "The only venue of the exercise is Cherat. All reports alleging the drills taking place at the High Altitude Military School in Rattu are erroneous and mischievous," it said. The exercise is to take place in a mountainous area in the eastern Punjab province. Both countries have long experience of counterinsurgency operations in this difficult terrain, which they want to share with each other. The exercise was first announced in January and is a signal that “Moscow and Islamabad are interested in deepening military-to-military relations,” Pakistan's ambassador to Moscow Qazi Khalilullah said.