Staff Reporter Karachi
Major joint naval exercise Naseem Al-Bahr XIII between Pakistan Navy and Royal Saudi Naval Forces commenced at Karachi on Sunday.
Aimed to consolidate the existing strong bilateral relations between Pakistan Navy and Royal Saudi Naval Forces, the exercise includes joint conduct of maritime security operations across the traditional and non-traditional warfare domains thus enhancing interoperability between both the navies.
Earlier, RSNF flotilla arrived at Karachi port and was warmly welcomed by senior PN and RSNF officers. Besides Naval ships of both navies, aviation units including PN and RSNF helicopters embarked onboard ships and aircraft of RSAF will also participate in this exercise.
On first day of the exercise, various harbour evolutions were conducted to provide synergy in different naval operations.
It also afforded anopportunity for both navies to conduct operational planning for the joint naval operations to be conducted in subsequent sea phase of the exercise.
During the first phase, various training exercises were organized onboard PN and RSNF ships and harbour facilities. The respective force Commanders of PN and RSNF closely monitored and supervised the training activities.