NATO @ 70

About:

• NATO is also called the North Atlantic Alliance.
  
  
• Objective: It is an intergovernmental military alliance between North American and European countries. It constitutes a system of collective defence whereby its independent member states agree to mutual defence in response to an attack by any external party.
  
  
• HQ: Brussels, Belgium.
  
  
• Origin: The alliance is based on the North Atlantic Treaty that was signed in 1949.
  
  
• Member Countries: It consists of 29 independent member countries. Three former Soviet states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) are members of NATO.
  
  
• Partners: NATO cooperates with a range of international organisations and countries in different structures (as mentioned below):
  • Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC)
    
    
  • NATO's Mediterranean Dialogue
    
    
  • Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI)
    
    
  • Partners across the globe: Under it, countries develop cooperation with NATO in areas of mutual interest, including emerging security challenges. Pakistan is also NATO’s partner across the globe.