KARACHI: The Pakistan Navy has said Exercise Sea Guardian 2023 will further strengthen decades-old and time-tested friendship between Islamabad and Beijing.

Speaking at a joint press conference here on Monday, PN official Commodore Asim Sohail Malik and Chinese naval official Senior Captain Qi Jian shed light on the objectives, contours and conduct of the exercise.

Commodore Malik said that the joint exercise would open new avenues for future maritime cooperation between the two friendly navies against common threats in the region.

He said that Pakistan and China had always enjoyed a strategically unique and strong relationship. The Chinese official said on the occasion that the exercise was committed to strengthen all-weather strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries.

“It aims at enhancing defence cooperation, deepening professional exchanges, facilitating the establishment of a regular mechanism for joint exercise along with demonstrating the common mission and determination of the two countries to defend China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, and further building a closer China-Pakistan community with a shared future in the new era,” he added.

Frontline destroyers, frigates, helicopters, rescue ships, submarines and special forces from the Pakistan Navy and People’s Liberation Army (Navy) are participating in the exercise.

The exercise is divided into two phases — harbour and sea phase. During the harbour activities both navies shared their experiences on contemporary maritime security threats and challenges through various workshops, seminars and table top discussions.

The sea phase, to be conducted in the north Arabian Sea between Nov 14 and Nov 16, would encompass advanced level naval operations, i.e., maritime security operations, tactical manoeuvres, various warfare-related exercises and search and rescue operations to deal with a variety of threats at sea.

Published in Dawn, November 14th, 2023