Geopolitically Important Pakistan Brings China, Russia, US Together For 45-Nation Exercises Hosted by Pak Navy

Pakistan is hosting navies from 45 nations, including the United States, China and Russia, for a joint military exercise named "AMAN 2021" in the North Arabian Sea later this month. This is the first time in a decade that Russian naval ships will attend drills with multiple NATO members. 

The news prompted Indian defense analyst Pravin Sawhney to tweet: "Pakistan Navy Aman 21 exercise brings US, China & Russian navies together - what more needs to be said of Pak’s geopolitical importance in times of change!"

Tweet by Indian Defense Analyst Pravin Sawhney


United Kingdom, Turkey, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia and several countries from the African Union are also among participants of "AMAN 2021" The last time the Russian navy conducted joint military drills with NATO members was in the "Bold Monarch" exercise in 2011, which took place off the coast of Spain, according to Voice of America

US-China Compete For Influence in Pakistan

There was a lot of speculation in the western media about the objectives of Pakistan policies being pursued by China and the United States, the two great powers in Asia region, and their impact on the US-China competition for world dominance. Such speculations was centered on the debt related to China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the US leverage in IMF bailout of Pakistan that was approved in 2019.

American business publication Wall Street Journal has produced a short video explaining how its staff sees what it describes as "US-China conflict brewing in Pakistan". What is at stake in the battle between China and the United States in Pakistan is the prize of global superpower status. Here are the key points it made back in 2019:

1. The US-China conflict brewing in Pakistan is about global dominance sought by the two great powers.

2. If China succeeds, it could become the new center of global trade. If the US wins, it could frustrate China's push to become a global power. The impact of it will be felt around the world for decades.

3. China has already surpassed the United States as the world's biggest exporter of goods and services.

4. The biggest project in China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in which China is investing heavily and providing massive loans.

5. China could use the infrastructure built in Pakistan under CPEC to gain access to the Indian Ocean and supplant the United States in Pakistan.

6. CPEC-related spending is sinking Pakistan deeper in debt to China. It could force Pakistan to seek $8 billion to $12 billion bailout by IMF where US is the biggest shareholder with veto power.

7. US does not want the IMF bailout money to be used to repay Chinese debt. Not bailing out Pakistan is not an option because it could cost US an important ally in the region.

8. US could, however, use IMF bailout to limit what Pakistan can borrow from China. Such a condition will achieve the US objective of significantly slowing down CPEC and BRI.

9. Pakistan's dilemma is that it needs both the infrastructure improvements financed by China and the IMF bailout to ease pressure on its dwindling foreign exchange reserves.

10. Whoever wins in Pakistan will become the number one global superpower.


Can US "Spend Them (Chinese) Into Oblivion"?

Here's the Wall Street Journal video:

https://youtu.be/wvw-85CC1t4


http://www.youtube.com/embed/wvw-85CC1t4"; width="560"></iframe>" height="315" src="https://img1.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png" width="560" style="cursor: move; background-color: #b2b2b2;" />

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Comment by Riaz Haq on September 27, 2022 at 4:57pm

With eye on Beijing, India and US make a show of unity amid fissures

On Monday, Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar had sharp words for US President Joe Biden’s approval earlier this month of a US$450 million package to maintain and upgrade the F-16 fighter jet fleet of Pakistan, India’s rival. The US argues that the F-16 fleet is important to counter terrorism.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3194048/eye-beiji...

A day after fissures reappeared in US-India ties, top diplomats from both countries struck a cordial tone on Tuesday in a show of unity with an eye on China – a common challenge and competitor in the Indo-Pacific.
On Monday, Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar had sharp words for US President Joe Biden’s approval earlier this month of a US$450 million package to maintain and upgrade the F-16 fighter jet fleet of Pakistan, India’s rival. The US argues that the F-16 fleet is important to counter terrorism.

India – a key partner in the US security strategy for the Indo-Pacific region to counter China’s growing muscle – opposed the move, contending that Pakistan harbours and exports terrorists. On Monday, Jaishankar said the US was “not fooling anyone” when it said the fighters would be used for counterterrorism “because we all know where they are deployed”.

Expressing a “keen interest to move forward on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework

Expressing a “keen interest to move forward on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework”, a loose grouping of 13 countries from South and Southeast Asian countries led by the US to counter China’s dominance in international trade, Jaishankar said that “India and the US share a strong interest in encouraging more resilient and reliable supply chains”.
Discussing security issues, Jaishankar praised the US for adopting a more “international” approach and becoming “more open to engaging with countries like India” in initiatives such as the Quad Security Dialogue – a four-nation bloc including the US, India, Japan and Australia – that hope to counter China as its influence grows in the Indo-Pacific.
The Quad, he said, “has grown remarkably in the last two years”, adding that there was a “lot of promise in working with the US to shape the direction of the world”.

For his part, Blinken signalled support for “increasing the number of both permanent and non-permanent representatives of the United Nations Security Council, a long-standing goal of India”. China opposes India’s bid for a permanent seat on the Security Council; the two nations maintain strained ties over a decades-long border dispute in the Himalayas.

While Jaishankar avoided the topic of Pakistan, Blinken endured questions from the Indian press over the deal’s effectiveness in tackling terrorism. He said that it was the US’ “responsibility and obligation” to provide sustenance support, reasserting that Pakistan’s bolstered capability in counterterrorism benefited both India and the US.
Last week, China, one of the five permanent Security Council members, blocked a joint attempt by the US and India to sanction Sajjid Mir, a Pakistan-based commander of the Islamist militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba; India claims Mir played a role in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks in 2008 that killed more than 300 people.
Akriti Vasudeva of the Stimson Centre in Washington noted that with “the growing US-India strategic partnership, the two countries’ alignment on the Chinese threat and the need for a rules-based order, and their broad-based cooperation means that they have far greater convergences than divergences and will not let any misgivings derail or hamper their ties”.

Comment by Riaz Haq on November 26, 2022 at 10:13pm

India is the lone absentee at China’s Indian Ocean forum of 19 countries
The forum, held in Kunming in southwestern Yunnan province on November 21, brought together representatives from 19 countries
November 26, 2022 07:08 pm

ANANTH KRISHNAN

https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/china-convenes-an-india...


The forum was organised by CIDCA, China’s new development aid agency, and is currently headed by former Vice-Foreign Minister Luo Zhaohui, who also earlier served as envoy to India and Pakistan.
The forum was organised by CIDCA, China’s new development aid agency, and is currently headed by former Vice-Foreign Minister Luo Zhaohui, who also earlier served as envoy to India and Pakistan. | Photo Credit: Reuters

China this week convened a first “China-Indian Ocean Region Forum” bringing together 19 countries from the region – and all of India’s neighbours, except for India itself, the lone absentee from a new Beijing strategic initiative.

The forum, held in Kunming in southwestern Yunnan province on November 21, brought together representatives from 19 countries including Indonesia, Pakistan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal, Afghanistan, Iran, Oman, South Africa, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania, Seychelles, Madagascar, Mauritius, Djibouti, and Australia, according to a statement from the organisers, the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA).

Comment by Riaz Haq on November 27, 2022 at 7:23am

India Absent, 19 Countries Attend China Forum's Indian Ocean Region Meet
India was reportedly not invited, according to informed sources.

https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/china-holds-its-first-meeting-with-...


Beijing: China held a meeting this week with 19 countries from the Indian Ocean region in which India was conspicuously absent.
The China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA), an organisation connected with the Chinese Foreign Ministry held a meeting of the China-Indian Ocean Region Forum on Development Cooperation on November 21, in which 19 countries took part, according to a press release issued by the organisation.

The meeting was held in a hybrid manner under the theme of "Shared Development: Theory and Practice from the Perspective of the Blue Economy" in Kunming, Yunnan Province, it said.

Representatives of 19 countries, including Indonesia, Pakistan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal, Afghanistan, Iran, Oman, South Africa, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania, Seychelles, Madagascar, Mauritius, Djibouti, Australia and representatives of 3 international organisations were present, it said.

India was reportedly not invited, according to informed sources.

Last year, China held a meeting with some South Asian countries on COVID-19 vaccine cooperation without the participation of India.

CIDCA is headed by Luo Zhaohui, the former Vice Foreign Minister and Ambassador to India.

According to the official website of the organisation, he is the Secretary of the CPC (the ruling Communist Party of China) Leadership Group of CIDCA.

CIDCA's official website said the aims of the organisation is to formulate strategic guidelines, plans and policies for foreign aid, coordinate and offer advice on major foreign aid issues, advance the country's reforms in matters involving foreign aid, and identify major programmes, supervise and evaluate their implementation.

During his tour of Sri Lanka in January this year, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi proposed to establish a “forum on the development of Indian Ocean Island Countries.” When asked whether the CIDCA meeting is the same that is proposed by Wang, the Chinese Foreign Ministry here has clarified to the media that the November 21 meeting was not part of it.

At the November 21 meeting, China has proposed to establish a marine disaster prevention and mitigation cooperation mechanism between China and countries in the Indian Ocean region, the CIDCA press release said.

China is ready to provide necessary financial, material, and technical support to countries in need, it said.

China is vying for influence in the strategic Indian Ocean region with substantial investments in ports and infrastructure investments in several countries, including Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

While China has established a full-fledged naval base in Djibouti, its first outside the country, Beijing has acquired the Hambantota port in Sri Lanka on a 99-year lease besides building the port at Pakistan's Gwadar in the Arabian Sea opposite India's western coast besides infrastructure investments in the Maldives.

The Chinese forum apparently is aimed at countering India's strong influence in the Indian Ocean region where India-backed organisations like the Indian Ocean Rim Association, (IORA), which has a membership of 23 countries have taken strong roots.

China is a dialogue partner in the IORA formed in 1997.

IORA became an observer to the UN General Assembly and the African Union in 2015.

Besides the IORA, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has proposed “Security and Growth for All in the Region” (SAGAR) in 2015 for active cooperation among the littoral countries of the Indian Ocean region.

The Indian Navy-backed ‘Indian Ocean Naval Symposium' (IONS) seeks to increase maritime cooperation among navies of the region.

Since the June 2020 Galwan Valley clash between Chinese and Indian armies, bilateral ties have been severely hit.

Comment by Riaz Haq on December 13, 2022 at 7:56am

China Index

https://china-index.io/

Doublethink Lab and the China In The World network present the China Index, the first cross-regional project to objectively measure and visualize the People’s Republic of China (PRC)’s overseas influence through comparable data.

This edition ranks the PRC’s influence in 82 Country Profiles across nine Domains: Academia, Domestic Politics, Economy, Foreign Policy, Law Enforcement, Media, Military, Society, and Technology. Each Domain comprises 11 Indicators devised by the China Index Committee, a group of renowned China experts, each of which corresponds to an observable phenomenon of PRC influence.

The Indicators are distributed to local experts in Index countries who provide factual evidence for whether the phenomenon is observed or not. Local experts’ responses are reviewed, quantified, and normalized to provide Country Profile and Domain rankings. Together, the Indicators comprise the first and only research effort to compile PRC influence into a single set of observable phenomena. The Country Profiles, Domains, and Indicators will be periodically updated to assist academia, civil society, media, and policymakers in analyzing and understanding the evolving nature and impacts of the PRC’s global influence.

As of November 2022, Pakistan, Cambodia, and Singapore are ranked as most exposed to PRC influence. Paraguay, North Macedonia, and Albania are ranked as least influenced. Globally, PRC influence is assessed to be most prominent in the Domains of Technology, Foreign Policy, and Domestic Politics, and weakest in those of Military and Society.

Comment by Riaz Haq on February 14, 2023 at 7:43am

AMAN-2023 Multinational Naval Exercise was held in Pakistan with the participation of warships, Maritime Patrol aircraft, Special Ops Forces/ EOD Marines teams and observers of the Naval Forces of more than 50 countries, including the USA, China, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia and Turkiye.

https://www.turdef.com/Article/pakistan-navy-holds-multinational-ex...

Pakistan Navy has been conducting AMAN (Peace) series of multinational maritime exercises every two years since its beginning in 2007 with the 'Together for Peace' motto.

The exercise is divided into two phases: harbour and sea. The harbour phase involves activities such as seminars, operational discussions, professional demonstrations, international get-togethers and pre-sail planning of evolutions at sea. The sea phase includes tactical manoeuvres, exercises related to maritime security such as anti-piracy and counter-terrorism, search and rescue, gunnery firings and air defence exercises.

The highlight of the sea phase is the International Fleet Review, which national and foreign dignitaries witness. As a maritime nation, Pakistan has substantial stakes in keeping its seas safe and secure. The country focuses on three major factors. Dependence on the seas for trade, operationalisation of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project and the country’s strategic location astride the global energy highway. Cumulatively, these realities make maritime stability a vital national security interest.

In a Press release, The Pakistan Navy said that it currently faces some threats and challenges in the maritime domain, ranging from piracy, terrorism, and narco-arms trafficking to climate change. The release said, “However, the vastness of the seas makes it extremely difficult for any one nation to deal with these diverse challenges alone. This calls for a collective effort to make sure the seas remain safe and secure for all of us to use and benefit from. Pakistan Navy is, therefore, a firm believer in the concept of Collaborative Maritime Security and has been actively participating in Maritime Security and Counter-Piracy Operations along with other partner navies since 2004.”

The release underlines that Pakistan Navy has been undertaking Regional Maritime Security Patrols since 2018 to keep warships present “in vital sea areas in the Indian Ocean Region, to contribute towards maintaining good order at sea in accordance with our international commitment. Exercise AMAN is thus the manifestation of this acknowledged reality of combating the maritime threats collectively thru cooperation and mutual support and provides enormous opportunities to the participants for shaping and rehearsing the contours of such a collective response.”

Commander Pakistan Fleet emphasised that the principle purpose of this exercise is to provide a forum for understanding each other's maritime concepts and operational cultures, enhancing interoperability as well as identifying ways and means to combat common threats at sea. The occasion also helps foster friendships, bridging gaps and making it possible for countries from far and wide to operate together in the pursuance of shared objectives.

Pakistan Navy launched the exercise in 2007 with only three participants and Turkish Naval Forces participated them since its establishment. In its press release on January 13, 2023, the Ministry of National Defence announced that various elements and personnel from the Turkish Naval Forces would participate in the AMAN 2023 Exercise, but this participation was cancelled after two earthquakes on February 6th.

Pakistan Navy’s major acquisition in the last years, the Type 054A guided-missile frigate from China, attends the drill. The Type 054A has medium-range air defence capability with its Type 382 radar and vertically launched (VLS) HHQ-16 surface-to-air missiles.Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) sent its guided-missile destroyer Nanning to participate in the AMAN-23 naval Exercise.

Comment by Riaz Haq on February 15, 2023 at 7:01pm

Pakistan Navy Shows Off Its Skills at Aman 2023


https://www.rediff.com/news/report/pakistan-navy-shows-off-its-skil...

------------


Tipu7
AhmAdTipu7


Friendly Navies' warships that participated in #AMAN2023 

1: Luyang III class, Nanning (China)
2: Akizuki class, Suzutsuki (Japan)
3: Arleigh Burke IIA class, Truxtun (US)
4: FREMM class, Bergamini (Italy)
5: Sigma class, Martadinata  (Indonesia) 
6: Lekiu class, Lekiu (Malaysia) 
7: Samudhra class, Samudura (Sri Lanka) 


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