Pakistan Navy and People’s Liberation Army Navy of China concluded largest-ever joint exercise ‘Sea Guardian-2023’ at the Pakistan Navy Dockyard on November 17, 2023.
This was their largest bilateral naval exercise, marking the first time Pakistan hosted the advanced Type 052DL Chinese destroyer for training.
The exercise conducted in the north Arabian Sea saw the participation of six Chinese navy units including a destroyer, frigates, submarine, oil tanker and rescue ship along with a detachment of marines participated.
Exercise to boost Pakistan-China defense cooperation
The naval drills were aimed at enhancing maritime cooperation and defense relations through mutual exchange of maritime experience and interoperability between the two navies.
The seven-day (November 11-17) exercise in the waters and airspace of the northern Arabian Sea involved training courses including formation maneuvering, VBSS (visit, board, search and seizure), helicopter cross-deck landing, joint search and rescue, joint anti-submarine and main gun shooting, plus professional exchanges and mutual visits.
“The exercise is dedicated to enhance the all-weather strategic cooperative partnership, boost defense cooperation and deepen professional cooperation,” said Rear Admiral Liang Yang, commander at a PLA Navy base and the general director of the exercise from the Chinese side.
Admiral Amjad Khan Niazi, then Chief of the Naval Staff of the Pakistan Navy, said that the Sea Guardian exercises serve the objectives of fostering interoperability and sharing professional experiences to deal with contemporary traditional and non-traditional security threats
Participating naval vessels
Participating vessels from the Chinese Navy included:
- Type 052D guided missile destroyer Zibo
- Type 054A guided missile frigates Jingzhou and Linyi
- Qiandaohu integrated supply ship
Pakistani warships included:
- PNS Saif guided missile frigate
- Type 054A/P guided missile frigate PNS Shahjahan
- Anti-submarine patrol aircraft and helicopters
The Chinese Navy’s Type 054A frigate Linyi and the Pakistan Navy’s F-22P frigate Saif formed a task group and launched the joint patrol in waters around major maritime routes and port channels in the northern Arabian Sea, as the China-Pakistan Sea Guardian-3 joint exercise entered the sea phase on Tuesday, the PLA Navy said.
China and Pakistan are holding largest-ever joint naval drills ‘Sea Guardian-3’ in the northern Arabian Sea🇨🇳🇵🇰⚓️ pic.twitter.com/hng0jl40t6
— IRIA (@IRIA_Research) November 14, 2023
During another part of the bilateral exercise, six warships, including the PLA Navy’s Type 052D destroyer Zibo, Type 054A frigate Jingzhou and Type 903 replenishment ship Qiandaohu as well as the Pakistan Navy’s Type 054A/P frigate Shah Jahan, formed a task group and launched the sea phase of the drill in the northern Arabian Sea.
Sea-Guardian naval exercise
The ‘Sea Guardian-2023’ is the third and the largest edition of this series of the naval exercise. The first edition was held in 2020 in the northern waters of the Arabian Sea, while the second edition was held in 2022 in the waters off Shanghai.
Joint naval drills are significant to safeguard the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), an important part of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and comprehensively contribute to the peace and stability in the Indian Ocean region, according to Chinese experts.
“A joint patrol is a military presence that allows fast response to emergencies and safeguards security in a region, while a joint exercise is training with preset goals and targets,” Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert, told the Global Times.
The Arabian Sea is important sea route for both Pakistan and China for goods and energy transport, making it crucial for the two countries to jointly safeguard this sea lane and address security threats.