Mega naval exercise

Pakistan has a strategic stake in peaceful navigation and security of the Indian Ocean, an interest that of late has acquired immense primacy for several reasons. Pakistan is washed by the Arabian Sea for about a thousand kilometers, so its interest is all the more abiding now that the Gwadar seaport has become operational. And also because India is out to shatter its peace. Such a move would be at the cost of the well-being of more than 30 littoral countries. Given that perspective, Pakistan has spared no forum - diplomatic or political - to seek elimination of tension and hostility from the Indian Ocean. In the past Pakistan had proposed to designate the Indian Ocean a nuclear weapons-free zone. But India opposed it, as its strategic thinking has always been that this ocean be ultimately turned into an "Indian lake". Pakistan, on the other hand, has persevered in its resolve to ensure that the Indian Ocean remains free of tensions, allowing free flow of trade and travel.
Every two years Pakistan invites the world navies to join it as an expression of their solidarity. It is the non-traditional threats like piracy, trafficking and maritime terrorism that led to the multinational naval exercise Aman-17 hosted by Pakistan from February 10 to 14. Participated by 37 navies, showcasing an extensive variety of vessels and weapons, it was conducted in two phases. The Harbour Phase from February 11 to 12 comprised an international maritime conference, seminars, talks and cross-ship visits and a maritime counter-terrorism demonstration; the Sea Phase included practical execution of operational plans and actualisation of activities finalised during the harbour phase. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was right on spot in saying that foreign navies' participation reflected their confidence in Pakistan. The exercise, he said, was a manifestation of Pakistan's "policy of constructive engagement with the comity of nations for peace and stability in the maritime commons". The state of operational readiness exhibited by the Pakistan Navy, the prime minister said, amply suggested that it was "fully prepared and committed to ensure seaward defence and safeguard its maritime interests". If Pakistan has persevered in its commitment to keep the Indian Ocean free of tensions, many others' interests in this ocean have undergone cataclysmic changes. There was time when India wanted the United States out of the Indian Ocean, but now it has stitched up a strategic alliance with the US by agreeing to share logistics - though US Ambassador David Hale is eager to tell people that Aman-17 was "an opportunity for the US and Pakistan to continue maritime co-operation and to work with other partners to strengthen global security." Russia tried hard for 200 years to reach the warm waters of the Arabian Sea, but could not. Now it is invited there. Indeed, operationalization of Gwadar and Chabahar seaports has dramatically transformed the security perspectives and challenges in the Arabian Sea. It is here that incidence of terrorism has come to breed and flourish, and it is here that some of the bloodiest inter-state conflicts are in progress. But the region has the potential to turn the page on all of it, as amply reflected from the Aman-17 multinational show of strength and unity.