British Royal Navy warships arrived at Karachi port for bilateral naval exercise with Pakistan Navy

British Royal Navy warships arrived at Karachi port for bilateral naval exercise with Pakistan Navy

KARACHI – The British Royal Navy’s Type 23 Guided Missile Frigate, HMS Richmond arrived at Karachi Naval Dockyard for a port visit to Pakistan.

A warm welcome was extended to the crew of HMS Richmond, a warship assigned to HMS Queen Elizabeth’s Carrier Strike Group, on Sunday.

The frigate has a busy programme of Pakistan-UK defence engagements as it would participate in bilateral naval exercise.

The Carrier Strike Group made its maiden deployment in May 2021 and has taken part in operations and engagements in the Mediterranean and the Indo-Pacific.

The Strike group will travel over 26,000 nautical miles from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, from the Gulf of Aden to the Arabian Sea, and from the Indian Ocean to the Philippine Sea, engaging with 40 countries. This deployment will end in December 2021, said official statement.

Besides the warship, the Strike Group comprises aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, Type 45 destroyers HMS Defender and HMS Diamond (although this ship has had recent issues), Type 23 anti-submarine frigate HMS Kent, and tanker and storage ships Fort Victoria and RFA Tidespring.