CAIRO – Egyptian and Pakistani naval forces conducted on Thursday drills inthe Mediterranean Sea, official news agency MENA reported.

“The drills meant to exchange expertise in order to promote maritimesecurity and stability in the region,” Egyptian armed forces said in astatement.

The giant Pakistani military ship SAIF PNS along with the Egyptian navalships conducted exercises including inspection of ships and exchange ofhelicopter takeoff and landing, it added.

Egypt has also started joint military exercise with the Unites States knownas “the Bright Star” on Saturday at a military base in Egypt’s seasideprovince of Alexandria.

Scheduled to be held from September 8 to September 20, the militarymanoeuvres include land, naval and air forces from Egypt, the UnitedStates, Britain, France, Italy, Greece, Saudi Arabia, the United ArabEmirates and Jordan, in addition to other 16 states that participate asobservers.

Earlier in April this year, the Pakistan Navy held its maiden bilateralexercise Turgutries meaning ‘Drawn sword of Islam’ with Turkish navalforces in North Arabian Sea.

The exercise covered a wide range of maritime operations encompassinganti-surface, anti-air and anti-submarine warfare as well as maneuveringand communication exercises.