Multinational naval exercise ‘Aman-19’ to kick off next month

KARACHI: A multinational naval exercise, Aman-2019, to be organised by the Pakistan Navy (PN), will commence in February with participation expected from around 44 countries.

According to Pakistan Navy, the purpose of the exercise is to promote cooperation and interoperability between the regional and extra regional navies

“The exercise concept revolves around collaborative Maritime Security building partnerships for making sea a safer place for sea fearers and merchant shipping,” reads the objective of the multinational exercise.

“The exercise is aimed at developing coalition building and multi-layered security cooperation, promoting a safe & sustainable maritime environment. Similarly it aims to enhance tactical interoperability between regional and extra regional navies thereby acting as a bridge between the regions.”

Around 44 countries are expected to participate in Aman-19 including Australia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, China, Djibouti, Egypt, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Korea, Malaysia, Maldives, Mayanmar, Nigeria, Oman, Poland, Palestine, Philippine, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia.

Pakistan Navy first organised Aman series of multinational exercises on biennial basis in 2007. Operating in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), 28 countries participated in the first AMAN Exercise held in 2007.

A look back at the past Aman exercises

The first Exercise was held in March 2007. During Aman-07, a total of 28 countries participated with naval assets and observers. 14 ships from China, USA, UK, Italy, France, Malaysia and Bangladesh joined the exercise. In addition, SOF/EOD teams from Turkey and Bangladesh also participated in Special Operation Forces Exercises. Furthermore, 21 countries participated in the exercise as observers. The inception of Aman series of exercises in 2007 was a significant effort to improve maritime security in the western region of the Indian Ocean.

Similarly Second Exercise of Aman series was held in March 2009.  A total of 24 countries participated in the exercise with naval assets and observers. As many as 14 ships from China, USA, UK, France, Malaysia, Australia and Bangladesh took part in the exercise. In addition, 02 x aircraft (P-3C) from Japan participated in the exercise. 09 x SOF/ EOD teams from China, USA, Turkey, Nigeria and Bangladesh also participated in Special Operation Forces exercise. 27 countries also sent their naval experts who witnessed the exercise as observers.

The success of the first two Aman exercises promoted Pakistan Navy to expand the canvas of the exercise with increased number of participating countries in Aman -11. Third Exercise of the Aman series was conducted from 8-12 March 2011. The exercise was attended by 28 countries participated with naval assets and observers.

Aman -2013 was the fourth exercise of Aman series which was conducted from 4-8 Mar 2013. The exercise proved to be instrumental in enhancing the tactical and operational readiness as well as friendly ties amongst the participating navies. With the participation of 29 countries, which was the largest number compared with previous exercises, Pakistan Navy endeavoured to establish an understanding between the cross cutting cleavages encompassing maritime security operations, anti terrorist operations and humanitarian assistance operations.

Multinational Exercise Aman-17 was the fifth exercise of the Aman series and was conducted from 10-14 Feb 17.  Navies of 35 countries participated in the exercise with 12 x ships from Australia, China, Indonesia, Russia, Sri Lanka, Turkey and UK participated in it. As many as 67 observers including seven senior officers from participating countries attended the exercise, according to the PN.