Aman-19: Desire for peace

Robert D Kaplan contends that the Greater Indian Ocean, stretching eastward from the Horn of Africa all the way to the Indonesian archipelago and beyond may comprise a map as iconic to the 21^st century as Europe was to the 20^th.

With all the geopolitics in motion, he hoped that this century will be less violent than the last one, but to a similar degree, it could have recognisable geography. So today’s Greater Indian Ocean is yesterday’s heartland. In this stretch, there lie a ganglion of global energy routes and yje seemingly inexorable rise of developing Asian nations.

The major part of this recognisable geography is its western half which has remained at the spotlight of maritime, economic, military and diplomatic activities in the post-cold war era. The zone is a vital conduit that offers trade routes to Africa, the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East, and Australia but is equally challenged by a proliferation of security threats. The transnational nature of these threats and vast but relatively less regulated sea realm required a collaborative approach at regional as well as international level.



Pakistan is a major player in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and is playing its role as a responsible maritime nation to promote regional peace and harmony.

In the same spirit, it embarked upon an initiative in 2007 called Aman series of exercises. Pakistan has also been a chief contributor in Combined Task Forces (CTF) and initiator of Regional Maritime Security Patrol (RMSP) while still retaining its active engagement with CTFs. The RMSP has the potential to draw regional countries to join hands in a coordinated framework that assigns the maritime security mandate of the region to the countries that are located within it.

While seas used to be regarded as common heritage of mankind in pre-UN Convention on Law of the Sea (1982) era, the newer coordinated initiatives subject them under collective responsibility in the Kaplan’s less violent 21^st century especially in the western Indian Ocean.

In the words of Quaid-e-Azam, one of our founding principles of state was to “have peace within and peace without”. It means to live peacefully and maintain friendly relations with the world at large including our neighbours.

Recently in his message on the Defence Day of Pakistan, Prime Minister Imran Khan said that “Pakistan believes in peaceful co-existence”.

In the same spirit, Naval Chief Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi has reiterated that “Pakistan does not harbour any aggressive designs, and our forces, including the Navy, are fully prepared to face any challenge”, and that “any disguised or unnatural arrangement for supremacy would not succeed, nor would it serve the purpose of peace and stability”. He also asserted on many occasions that “Pakistan’s desire for peace should not be mistaken for weakness."

In fact, the desire for peace is the cornerstone of Pakistan’s aspirations that echoes in speeches of almost all civil and military leaders.

Aman is an Urdu word which means ‘peace’ in English. It is a biennial exercise with a purpose to promote cooperation and interoperability between the regional and extra-regional navies operating in the IOR. With its start in 2007, 28 countries participated in the exercise that proved to be an instant success. So far in the series, five exercises have been conducted which have seen increased participation from our friends and partners.

Aman 2019, taking place currently, is the sixth exercise. 46 countries are participating which comprises of naval platforms, Special Operating Forces (SOF), Marines, Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) teams, and Observers.

Australia, China, France, Italy, Japan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Turkey, UK and the US are regular contributors to name a few.

The idea of multi-national naval exercises is not a new one and has past precedent in different regions across the world. The net sum advantage is mutual cooperation and harmony apart from sharing of experiences and interoperability in the hour of need.

The Aman concept revolves around collaborative maritime security by building partnerships for making the sea a safer place for sea fearers and merchant shipping. Exercise has the following salient objectives:

 

• Develop coalition building and multi-layered security cooperation that promotes a safe and sustainable maritime environment.

• Enhance tactical interoperability between regional and extra-regional navies thereby acting as a bridge between the regions.

• Project a positive image of Pakistan as a country contributing to regional peace and stability.

• Consolidate Pakistan Navy’s (PN) position in the regional maritime arena.

• Display of united resolve against terrorism and crimes in the maritime domain.

• An intermingling of multinationals with a depiction of their respective cultures.

The exercise programme is a nice assortment of harbour and sea activities with a flavour of ceremonial, international culture and sports activities apart from hardcore military maneuvers and exercises to hone skills and practicing responses against Maritime Security threats.

The programme also includes the International Maritime Conference (IMC) under the aegis of National Centre for Maritime Policy Research (NCMPR). NCMPR has been instrumental in hosting large participation of visiting navies in a very conducive environment in the previous Aman exercises. The topics have been ranging from prevailing maritime threats to wider subjects of fishery preservation to climate change remedies under an overlying theme of maritime security in IOR.



The proceedings do not end there, rather NCMPR analyses the ideas shared at this forum to extract and design relevant policy options, response strategies and operating procedures for the government and the regional countries to formulate viable strategies against the most pressing issues.

Exercise Aman with an enduring slogan as “Together for Peace” has consolidated to become a jewel in Pakistan Navy's calendar of activities being considered as one of the top forums in the region for collaborative naval activities. It is a testimony of Pakistan Navy's accumulated professional acumen, knowledge, expertise and well worked-up naval tactical procedures that can accommodate a much larger participation of platforms at sea.

Taking leverage of having commanded CTFs for the number of times, it provides confidence to the participating navies to join hands in protecting global commons, share experiences, and rehearse responses while at the same time acknowledging Pakistan Navy to be a force to be reckoned with.

Let us hope that our shared desire for peace gains winds as we continue to endeavour towards a world defined by harmony and peace in general and North Arabian Sea in particular.

The author regularly contributes articles about Indian Ocean and related issues