BEIJING:
For the first time, an ‘AMAN Dialogue’ would be held in tandem with the Pakistan Navy’s flagship AMAN naval exercises next month, Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) Admiral Naveed Ashraf revealed. in an interview published Thursday.
Admiral Naveed told the Global Times that the multinational exercise AMAN-25 would be organized by the Pakistan Navy in early February in Karachi. He said the main objective of AMAN was to foster regional cooperation for maintaining good order at sea.
Ashraf revealed that the first “AMAN Dialogue” would be held in tandem with AMAN-25. “The AMAN dialogue aims to promote understanding on maritime security issues, find ways to strengthen cooperation at sea and discuss security related to the blue economy,” he added.
The CNS said that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy had participated in all previous editions of the AMAN. He hopes that the PLA Navy will also participate in AMAN-25, adding that he looks forward to welcoming the leaders of the PLA Navy to the “AMAN Dialogue.”
The last AMAN exercises took place in February 2023, involving navies from more than 50 countries. The CNS said that Pakistan Navy was fully prepared for AMAN-25 with increased participation of friendly countries in a professional and appropriate manner.
Apart from the AMAN series exercises, China and Pakistan also regularly hold Sea Guardian bilateral naval exercises. The China-Pakistan Sea Guardian-3 joint maritime exercise took place in the waters and airspace of the northern Arabian Sea from November 11 to 17, 2023.
