ISLAMABAD – China and Pakistan are set to hold joint military exercises inJanuary 2020 in the Arabian Sea. The naval exercises are anticipated toinclude the participation of a Chinese destroyer, frigate, a supplementship, and submarine rescue ships, according to China’s Ministry of NationalDefense.
“The exercise is conducive to deepening security cooperation between thetwo militaries, consolidating and developing the China-Pakistan all-weatherstrategic cooperative partnership, and promoting the building of a maritimecommunity with a shared future,” said Ren Guoqiang, the ministry’sspokesman.
The joint drills are significant, especially for China, as it gainsexperience in conducting operations off of the Pakistani coast in theArabian Sea.
This body of water feeds into the Indian Ocean, a maritime area that hasgrown in strategic importance as Chinese economic ties have expanded and asthe country has sought to modernize its military and establish a blue waternavy.
China and Pakistan engage in a series of other bilateral and multilateraljoint exercises across different branches of their militaries.
The Sino-Pakistani “Warrior” series is dedicated to curbing terrorismthreats. Its seventh iteration, held earlier this month in Pakistan withmembers of each military’s special forces, included mobilization of forcesusing vehicles and aerial transportation. Chinese officials stated that thedrills focused on deepening cooperation and communication.
A new exercise was also introduced, the joint defense of key facilities inmountainous areas, likely in an effort to simulate protection of governmentor civilian buildings, as well as major investment projects under theumbrella of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), one of thebranches of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
The Chinese consulate in Karachi was targeted in late 2018 by terrorists.More recently, in May 2019, gunmen attacked and stormed a luxury hotel inBalochistan overlooking that port of Gwadar. Gwadar has been the site ofsignificant Chinese investment and is viewed as one of the core hubs ofCPEC.
Additionally, the two air forces also carry out extensive joint drills,including the Shaheen exercises, which wrapped up their eight iteration ina two-week drill in September that featured top aircraft from China andPakistan in northwestern China. Various warplanes, surface-to-air missiles,and radar installations from both China and Pakistan participated in mockbattles.
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Multilaterally, Pakistan hosted the sixth iteration of Aman-19 in earlyFebruary, which brought together 46 countries, international warships, andobservers for a set of maritime conferences, seminars, ship visits, seaoperations (including main-gun firing, formation movement, and at-searefueling).
The multilateral exercises are intended to boost cooperation among regionaland extraregional navies in the Indian Ocean; among the regular attendeesare China and the United States.
While the Beijing-Islamabad relationship is often touted as tight-knit andspecial, the flurry of joint exercises conducted by Chinese military unitsis not only unique to Pakistan.
China has steadily expanded its military exchanges and drills with manypartners over the past decade and a half, particularly with otherneighboring powers such as Russia, Pakistan, and India, as well as inmultilateral settings via the Shanghai Cooperation Organization or theU.S.-hosted multilateral RIMPAC exercise.
These joint drills are a visible diplomatic demonstration of capabilitiesbut are also a valuable resource and opportunity for training, crossmilitary coordination, readiness, and information gathering.
As China continues to invest significantly in Pakistan, the label of“all-weather friend” may be tested if the security environment continues tobe challenged. Still, the two neighbors are likely to remain regularmilitary partners going into 2020 and beyond.
Courtesy: (thediplomat.com)
