CPEC & BRI: Concept of Maritime Security and blessings of AMAN 2023
China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has further strengthened the development and role of the “blue economy” in the country. It has also highlighted the strategic role of “maritime security” and most recently-concluded 8th ANMAN 2023 stands for it. Moreover, AMAN 2023 has also now become a “value addition” for China’s Maritime Silk Road (MSR) which is an integral part of Xi Jinping’s BRI. The Suez Canal, Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden are important to the success of the MSR and, consequently, to the BRI and the CPEC alike.
Pakistan’s maritime security primary area of interest is the Arabian Sea and its extended area of interest is the western Indian Ocean (IO). Therefore, an ideal combination of the CPEC and BRI may be extended to the western IO states: Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania and Mozambique. Other BRI states such as Sudan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Malaysia can play a vital role in Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) along with Pakistan. Unfortunately, India is building naval and commercial ports, coastal radar system and composite training facilities in various IO littoral states such as Seychelles, Diego Garcia, Oman, Mauritius, Maldives and Bangladesh which has further enhanced the strategic importance of Pakistan’s maritime security domain.
CPEC is the pioneer project of the BRI and the development of Gwadar port is part of it. BRI and CPEC have gained significant global attention due to their strategic and economic importance to the region and Gwadar port is pivotal to the success of these projects.
Most recently, Pakistan Navy held the 8th edition of the multinational AMAN Exercise 2023 (10-14 February) which brought together global naval forces for cooperation and understanding each other’s maritime concepts for combating maritime threats. Special operations forces, ships, marine teams and aircraft from around 50 countries rigorously participated in the exercise. The Pakistan Navy has been conducting AMAN multinational exercises since 2007.
Pakistan has substantial stakes in keeping its seas safe and secure. It has extraordinary dependence on sea for trade, as around 95 per cent of its trade by volume is carried out through sea. Moreover, the operationalisation of the CPEC and the Gwadar Port, has further strengthened national energy highway, making maritime stability an essential national security interest. China also participated in the AMAN 2023. It enhanced the participants’ interoperability against instabilities and threats in the Indian Ocean region and safeguard vital international sea lines of communication and the CPEC.
Under the motto “Together for Peace”, the AMAN 2023 was divided into two phases: harbor and sea. The harbor phase involved seminars, operational discussions and professional demonstrations among other preparations and the sea phase included tactical maneuvers, anti-piracy, counterterrorism, search and rescue, live-fire shooting as well as air defence exercises and was followed by an international fleet review.
AMAN 2023 was a message of collective peace and of being together with regional and trans-regional friends and partners from all over the world, including China. Both iron-clad countries want to build mutual capacities and mutual understandings so that peace and security would be jointly ensured at sea. Furthermore, the Pakistan Navy has been operating with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy, and in the future, this trend is going to be enhanced.
The participating vessel from China was the Nanning, a Type 052D guided missile destroyer that is part of the PLA Navy’s 43rd escort task force to the Gulf of Aden and waters off Somalia which was set out from a naval port in Zhanjiang, South China’s Guangdong Province. It was the Nanning’s first time participation in such an international naval exercise. The domestically developed warship has received an upgraded propulsion system among many other modifications.
There are a number of non-traditional threats that prevail in the wider Indian Ocean region such as terrorism, piracy, drug smuggling and arms trafficking. The vastness of the oceans makes the maritime arena an attractive avenue for illegal activities which should be dealt with iron hands. Therefore, the AMAN 2023 was conducted with the aim of developing synergy between participating naval units to tackle maritime security challenges by enhancing interoperability between regional and extra-regional navies at different levels of technological prowess. Interestingly, the first edition of the Pakistan International Maritime Expo and Conference (PIMEC) was also launched in Karachi, concurrently with the AMAM-23 exercise. It was initiated by the Pakistan Navy PIMEC aimed to showcase the potential of Pakistan’s maritime sector and drew attention to the contribution that the maritime industry can make to the development of the blue economy.
To conclude, AMAN 2023 has further strengthened Pakistan’s naval diplomacy. The coastline of Pakistan is more than 700 km long, with two most significant strategic points: The ports of Karachi and Gwadar. Karachi Port is on the east side, sharing a border with India, whereas Gwadar Port is on the western coast, sharing borders with Iran and Middle Eastern countries. The geostrategic position of Gwadar Port is crucial due to its proximity to sea trade routes and one of the most important strategic projects of the CPEC which may also be a connecting hub for the BRI.
In recent years, the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) of the South-West Indian Ocean (SWIO) region has emerged as vital security and developmental partners in the geopolitics of the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) which should also be considered as a befitting policy response. In the post-Cold War era, the IOR experienced instability exacerbated by weak government structures and the littorals’ limited capacity in controlling the maritime domain. As security threats increased in form and frequency, the IOR experienced growing militarisation by regional and extra-regional powers which should also be matched with matching naval & maritime responses.
Therefore, AMAN 2023 has further strengthened its maritime security and consolidated its capacity building mechanism in terms of security and stability at sea and sharpened its professional preparedness and tactical comparative advantage against the emerging threats and challenges in the maritime domain, ranging from piracy, terrorism, narco-arms trafficking to climate change.
Interestingly, Gwadar port provides an opportunity to connect several important sea trade routes from Africa and Europe through the Red Sea, the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf to East Asia and the Pacific region, making it even more vital for maritime trade route security. Moreover, the policy makers of Pakistan should also work on Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) which refers to the effective awareness of any maritime activity that has repercussions for the safety, security, economy and environment as per the International Maritime Organisation. It is of substantial importance for Pakistan as it is an important Indian Ocean littoral state. Pakistan having a 1001 km long coastline depicts that sea as a frontier needs to be protected from any traditional and non-traditional threats.
Pakistan carries out more than 95 percent of its trade via sea which shows that the economy of Pakistan is wedded to sea-based commerce. The security and economic dependence on sea makes it necessary for Pakistan to amplify its MDA.
It is suggested that Pakistan and China should take the lead in building up the architecture for the MDA as both states have common interests and threat i.e. India. Moreover the two countries should also jointly work for QUAD activities. In this regard, the Pakistan Navy should take a lead in cultivating relations with various BRI states through integrated naval diplomacy. It should pursue various means for defeating threats, deterring adversaries and detecting illicit activities in the maritime domain.
Interestingly, Pakistan Navy has been following the concept of Collaborative Maritime Security (CMS) and has been actively participating in Maritime Security and Counter Piracy Operations along with other partner navies since 2004.
On its part, Pakistan Navy is undertaking Regional Maritime Security Patrols through which our ships maintain presence in vital sea areas in the Indian Ocean Region to contribute towards maintaining good order at sea in accordance with our international commitments since 2018.
Undoubtedly, AMAN 2023 stands for 4Ps: peace, progress, prosperity and participation. It vividly reflects Pakistan’s Navy desire of combating the maritime threats collectively through cooperation and mutual support and provides enormous opportunities to the participants for shaping and rehearsing the contours of such a collective response.
Pakistan Navy should also seek help from China, Türkiye and Romania to further modernize its naval capabilities. There is an urgent need to work on the acquisition of modern submarines, naval drones, war boats, stealth small ships and flying boats along with work on radar, microwave and satellite technology to further secure its coastal areas, waters and seas alike.
