KARACHI - An impressive demonstration of live weapons firing by ships and aircraft was conducted on Saturday during the ongoing joint exercise Naseem Al Bahr between Pakistan Navy and Royal Saudi Naval Forces.
Admiral Asif Sandila, Chief of the Naval Staff, along with Royal Saudi Naval Force’s Western Fleet Commander Rear Admiral Ibrahim Othman Al Delaijan witnessed this mega exercise and professional display of various other maritime maneuvers at sea. This weapon firing was the culminating event of a weeklong sea phase of the exercise.
The overall exercise included a wide range of operational maneuvers encompassing major facets of maritime warfare particularly operations related to counter terrorism, convoy protection, anti-air, anti-submarine, mine countermeasure and intelligence based operations conducted in multi-threat environment. The current exercise which is 10th in the series, involved participation of four Royal Saudi Navy ships, aircrafts, Special Operating Forces and Marines besides participation of Pakistan Navy 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.
Admiral Sandila during his stay onboard said that, to deal with the emerging challenges on the maritime scene, seafaring nations need to collaborate and assist in protecting each other’s interests in a cooperative manner. In this context, Terrorism and piracy; being global challenges, demand a collective and coordinated response among all stakeholders as no single country can eliminate this menace single handedly.
He stressed that a potent and effective Navy is the need of the hour. Government of Pakistan despite resource constraints is making all the efforts to equip Pakistan Navy so that it can effectively guard the national maritime interests at Sea. “I feel it is important for national and global economy that a legitimate maritime order is maintained at seas.” He emphasised that Pakistan Navy’s outreach to regional and global navies in respect of defence collaboration is a manifestation of Government’s Foreign Policy Objectives.
The Chief of the Naval Staff expressed satisfaction on successful conduct of exercise and appreciated strengthening of maritime cooperation between Pakistan and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He also thanked Royal Saudi Naval Forces for their active participation in exercise Naseem Al Bahr. The spirited participation by RSNF units in the exercise is a clear manifestation of common professional working culture and strong foundation of brotherly relations that exist between the two nations since decades.