Naval exercise ‘Aman 2011’ inaugurated

[Waqas 48]

KARACHI: The five-day multinational naval exercise ''Aman-2011'' was formally inaugurated by Commander Pakistan Fleet, Vice-Admiral Abbas Raza, on Tuesday. The naval exercises will continue till March 12 in the Arabian Sea under the arrangements of Pakistan Navy. "The exercise will enable all the participating countries to interact with each other on operational capabilities," he said addressing the inaugural ceremony at Dockyard. The exercise will focus on issues related to piracy, sea terrorism, human trafficking, protection to marine interests and international trade, he added. "It will be our collective goal to provide conducive environment for sea trade and safeguard maritime interests," he said. He said presently the piracy was confined to sea off Somali region which may grow over the period and there was need to face this challenge jointly. Admiral Abbas Raza further hoped that a feedback will be given by the participating countries on conclusion of the exercise. An exchange of information on exercise experience will pave way for improvement in this regard, he said. The participating countries, besides, Pakistan include Australia, China, France, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Sri Lanka, UK and USA. The observer countries include Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei, Canada, Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nigeria, the Netherlands, Oman, the Philippines, Poland, Qatar, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Sudan, Thailand, UAE, Ukraine and Yemen.(APP)