45 nations attend 5-day naval exercise near Karachi
Drill, held every two years to boost effort to combat pirates, terrorists and smugglers, will involve ships, submarines, boats, marines and special forces
Afive-day multinational exercise hosted by Pakistan’s navy has kicked off near the southern port city of Karachi as part of efforts to enhance cooperation in combating pirates, terrorists and smugglers.
Representatives from the navies of 45 nations, including the United States, Britain and Japan, are participating in the exercise titled ‘Aman’ or peace, which began yesterday in the northern Arabian Sea.
Pakistan’s navy says several countries also sent vessels in addition to sailors to participate in the exercise.
Pakistan has been hosting the exercise since 2007 but has never invited India.
As the ceremony began, the flags of all participating nations were raised, and contingents of the Pakistan Navy presented a march-past.
The principal purpose of the exercise, conducted after every two years since it was initiated in 2007, is to provide a forum for understanding of each other’s maritime concepts and operational cultures and come up with ways and means to combat common threats at sea.
The Pakistan Navy’s ships, submarines, boats, marines and special forces will all take part in the exercise, along with the Pakistan Air Force, Pakistan Army and Pakistan Rangers.
Commander Pakistan Fleet Vice Admiral Amjad Khan Niazi was the chief guest at the opening ceremony, Radio Pakistan reported. Ambassadors and delegates of various countries were also present at the inauguration ceremony.
The exercise will be conducted in two phases. The harbour phase from Friday to Sunday will be followed by a sea phase on Monday and Tuesday.
Harbour activities will include seminars, discussions and demonstrations along with a three-day international maritime conference on ‘Global geopolitics in transition: rethinking maritime dynamics in the Indian Ocean region’.
Addressing the ceremony,
Beginning in 2007, exercise Aman has regularly been conducted every two years. This year’s edition is scheduled from February 8-12.
Vice Admiral Niazi said that the Aman-19 exercise seeks to enhance cooperation between countries and allows them to take benefit from mutual advantages and understand each other.
He said that maritime security is pivotal for national security and protection of maritime routes is also necessary for the economy.
At a media briefing on Thursday, Vice Admiral Niazi had said that maritime security should be quintessentially cooperative instead of being competitive.
He had said that the exercise also provided participating countries the chance to foster friendships, which could lead them to develop and practice common tactics, procedures and mechanics to deal with the maritime threats that affected them all.