KARACHI: A five-day multinational military exercise in the Arabian Sea, part of Islamabad’s years-long effort to bring security to the area, concluded on Tuesday at an event where President Dr. Arif Alvi was the chief guest.
Over 40 countries including the United States, Russia, Britain and China, were participating in the biannual “Aman” or peace exercise, with some sending vessels, aircraft or special operation forces, the Pakistan Navy has said. Arch-rival India was not invited.
President Dr. Arif Alvi attending the concluding ceremony of the 7th edition of the Multinational Maritime Exercise, Aman-2021, hosted by Pakistan Navy on 16 February 2021. (PID Photo)
Speaking to Arab News, commodore Khan Mehmood Asif said the exercise was aimed at bringing navies together “for peace.”
“The purpose of this exercise is to bring regional and extra regional navies on one platform and then conduct access to enhance the interoperability,” he said. “The participation of their teams and observers are also part of this exercise. So, it is actually on a very big scale that this exercise is being conducted.”
Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, all services chiefs, Saudi envoy Nawaf bin Saed Al-Maliki and several federal ministers attended the closing ceremony.
Pakistan Navy has been holding the event every two years since 2007. Of the 45 nations that participated this year, 13 brought along their own war ships and assets.
Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Twitter the exercise “successfully demonstrates Pakistan’s commitment to peaceful coexistence and multilateralism, in line with @GovtofPakistan’s vision for regional peace and stability.”
The #AMANExercise2021 hosted by @PakistanNavy, with over 45 participating nations, successfully demonstrates Pakistan's commitment to peaceful coexistence and multilateralism, in line with @GovtofPakistan's vision for regional peace and stability.#TogetherForPeace pic.twitter.com/H3vaHzx0Ev
— Prime Minister's Office, Pakistan (@PakPMO) February 15, 2021
He also congratulated all participating nations on being part of the flagship event.
The #AMANExercise2021 hosted by @PakistanNavy, with over 45 participating nations, successfully demonstrates Pakistan's commitment to peaceful coexistence and multilateralism, in line with @GovtofPakistan's vision for regional peace and stability.#TogetherForPeace pic.twitter.com/H3vaHzx0Ev
— Prime Minister's Office, Pakistan (@PakPMO) February 15, 2021
