KARACHI- Commander Pakistan Fleet Vice Admiral Ovais Ahmed Bilgrami onWednesday briefed the media about the details of multinational MaritimeExercise AMAN-23 at PNS Jauhar.
Pakistan Navy has been conducting AMAN series of multinational maritimeexercise every two years since its beginning in 2007. The eighth edition ofthe exercise is scheduled to be held this year from February 10th to 14th,involving participation of over 50 countries with ships, aircrafts, SpecialOps Forces/ EOD Marines teams and observers.
The exercise is divided into two phases: harbour and sea. Harbour phaseinvolves activities such as seminars, operational discussions, professionaldemonstrations, international get togethers and pre-sail planning ofevolutions at sea.
The sea phase would include tactical maneuvers, and exercises related tomaritime security such as anti-piracy and counter-terrorism, search andrescue, gunnery firings, and air defense exercises. The highlight of thesea phase will be the International Fleet Review, which will be witnessedby national and foreign dignitaries
Pakistan Fleet Vice Admiral Ovais Ahmed Bilgrami said as a maritime nation,Pakistan has substantial stakes in keeping our seas safe and secure. Ourinterests are based on three major factors. Firstly, our extraordinarydependence on the seas for trade; secondly, operationalization of CPECproject and thirdly, our strategic location astride the global energyhighway.
Cumulatively, these realities make maritime stability a vital nationalsecurity interest. We realize the importance of maritime security not onlyfor Pakistan but for all other countries whose prosperity and progress aretied to the seas.
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While we talk of security and stability at sea, let us be mindful of thethreats and challenges that we face in the maritime domain, ranging frompiracy, terrorism, narco-arms trafficking to climate change.
However, vastness of the seas makes it extremely difficult for any onenation to deal with these diverse challenges alone. This calls forcollective effort to make sure the seas remain safe and secure for all ofus to use and benefit from. Pakistan Navy is therefore a firm believer inthe concept of Collaborative Maritime Security and has been activelyparticipating in Maritime Security and Counter-Piracy Operations along withother partner navies since 2004.
Furthermore, since 2018, Pakistan Navy is undertaking Regional MaritimeSecurity Patrols through which our ships maintain presence in vital seaareas in the Indian Ocean Region, to contribute towards maintaining goodorder at sea in accordance with our international commitments.
Exercise AMAN is thus the manifestation of this acknowledged reality ofcombating the maritime threats collectively through cooperation and mutualsupport and provides enormous opportunities to the participants for shapingand rehearsing the contours of such a collective response.
