The Sea Guardian-3: China, Pakistan hold joint naval drills

The largest-ever joint exercise between the Chinese and Pakistani navies began in Pakistan on Saturday as the two countries continue to enhance their capabilities in jointly safeguarding strategic sea lanes as well as regional peace and stability.

The Sea Guardian-3 joint maritime exercise kicked off with an opening ceremony at the Karachi Naval Dockyard on Saturday morning.

A media briefing regarding the bilateral exercise Sea Guardian 2023 between Pakistan and China Naval Forces was held in Karachi. Commodore Asim Sohail Malik of Pakistan Navy and Senior Captain Chi Jian of Chinese Navy informed about the details of the exercise.

Commodore Asim Sohail Malik informed that the C phase of the exercise will begin from November 14 in Pakistan's territorial waters while Senior Captain Chi Jian of Chinese Navy said that the exercise “Sea Guardian” will promote mutual defence cooperation between the two navies.

Under the common aim of jointly responding to maritime security threats, the nine-day exercise in the waters and airspace of the northern Arabian Sea will organize training courses including formation manoeuvring, 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.

It is the third and the largest edition of the Sea Guardian exercises, according to Chinese media reports. The first edition was held in 2020 in the northern Arabian Sea waters, and the second edition was held in 2022 in waters off Shanghai.

The exercise is a reflection of strong bilateral military cooperation between the Pakistan Navy and the Chinese Navy and will foster greater bilateral cooperation between the two navies. The opening ceremony was attended by a large number of military officials from both the navies.

Editor: Tahir Murtaza