Pakistan-hosted AMAN-25 multinational naval exercise, kicked off in Karachi on Friday, is ongoing in full swing, with participating naval forces performing counterterrorism drills at sea to ensure maritime security.
Pakistan Navy has conducted the AMAN maritime exercise every two years since 2007 under the theme “Together For Peace,” involving ships, aircraft and special operations forces.
Naval troops and special forces from more than 60 countries have been taking part in the exercise that involves several counterterrorism drills at sea, according to Pakistan Navy officials.
“Today, [Feb. 9], it was the demonstration of maritime counter-terrorism [drills] which means that we conduct multiple operations out at sea which include the VBSS [visit, board, search, and seizure] operations, and the combat search and rescue operations and exfiltration and infiltration, including the amphibious operations,” Pakistan Navy’s Lt. Commander Nauman Majeeb told Reuters on Sunday.
“So, actually, today was the day where we demonstrated all these activities collectively in one, complete show.” This year’s exercise, being held on Feb. 7-11, features the inaugural AMAN Dialogue, themed “Secure Seas, Prosperous Future,” with a focus on security challenges in the Indian Ocean, including strategic competition, piracy, narco-trafficking, non-state actors, emerging technologies such as AI and unmanned systems, and the need for global collaboration in maritime domain.
“The global economic system is almost wholly dependent upon unhindered activity in the maritime domain,” Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said at an event to mark the opening of the dialogue. “The uninterrupted use of seas and oceans remain the strategic interests of all nations.”
Asif urged participating nations to synergize their efforts to extract greater economic gains, saying that the maritime domain is at a “critical crossroads.”
“Our oceans carrying over 80 percent of global trade represent not only shipping lanes but the arteries of global prosperity,” the minister said, noting that the Indian Ocean alone holds over 50 percent of global oil and gas reserves.
