Joint naval exercise: Seafaring nations urged to team up against piracy

Pakistan’s naval chief says no nation can deal with the menace in entirety.

KARACHI:

Seafaring nations need to collaborate and assist in protecting each other’s interests to deal with emerging maritime challenges, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Mohammad Asif Sandila said on Saturday.

Terrorism and piracy were the two challenges that the naval chief singled out while talking to the media onboard a PN ship during a live weapon firing on the concluding day of the Pak-Saudi joint naval exercise Nassem al Bahr.

“Terrorism and piracy, being global challenges, demand a collective and coordinated response, as no single country can deal with this menace in its entirety,” he said.

Sandila said that exercises are critical to access the translation of military strategy into operational plans.

Royal Saudi Naval Force’s Western Fleet Commander Rear Admiral Ibrahim Othman Al Delaijan also witnessed the mega event and the professional display of various other maritime maneuvers at sea where an impressive demonstration of live weapon firing by ships and aircraft was conducted.

Admiral Sandiala stressed that a potent and effective navy is the need of the hour. Despite resource constraints, the government is making all the efforts to equip Pakistan Navy so that it can effectively guard the national maritime interests at Sea, he said.

“It is important for national and global economy that a legitimate maritime order is maintained at seas,” he said.

He emphasised that the Pakistan Navy’s outreach to regional and global navies in respect to defence collaboration is a manifestation of thegovernment’s foreign policy objectives.

The Naseem al Bahr or Ocean Breeze exercise included maritime warfare manoeuvres related to counterterrorism, convoy protection, anti-air, anti-submarine, mine countermeasure and intelligence based operations conducted in multi-threat environment.

Three ships of RSNF, Makka, Al Buraida and Tabuk and five ships of Pakistan navy, PNS Nasr, PNS Shamsher, PNS Zulfiqar, PNS Zarar and PNS Qarar participated in the joint exercises. During the joint exercises, P3C Orion aircraft fired harpoon missile while RSNF ship, Makka, fired C2C MM.40 exorcist missile.

The current exercise, which is 10th in the series, involved the participation of four Royal Saudi Navy ships, aircraft, Special Operating Forces and Marines besides participation of Pakistan Navy’s destroyers, frigates, missile boats, fleet tanker, submarine, mine hunters and Naval Aviation units. Special Operating Force and Marines in addition to fighter aircraft from Pakistan Air Force also participated in the exercise.

The naval chief expressed satisfaction on the successful conduct of the exercise and appreciated the strengthening of maritime cooperation between Pakistan and audi Arabia. He also thanked Royal Saudi Naval Forces for their active participation in Naseem Al Bahr.

Royal Saudi Naval Force’s Western Fleet Commander Rear Admiral Ibrahim Othman Al Delaijan while talking to the media said that the joint exercises of Royal Saudi Naval Forces and Pakistan Navy was aimed to check the preparation levels of both the navies and the exercises proved that both navies were in excellent condition. “Pakistan navy is a professional maritime force,” he said. “It has modified ships and we have gained from their experience.”

Published in The Express Tribune, January 20^th, 2013.