Pakistani, Russian navies hold joint drills in Arabian Sea

KARACHI (92 News) – Pakistan and Russia have held naval drills in the North Arabian Sea to promote capacity of joint operations between the two navies. According to a statement issued by Pakistan Navy spokesperson, ships of Pakistan Navy and Russian Navy carried out war operations during the exercises. Pakistan and Russian Federation enjoy strong bilateral ties based on mutual respect, understanding and trust. Pakistan and Russian Federation Navies are contributing to enhance defence ties in various domains.   In the same stride, Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi recently visited Russian Federation and Pakistan Navy Ship ASLAT with embarked helicopter also visited St Petersburg, Russia in July 2018. Reciprocating the same, Russian Federation Navy ships SEVEROMOSRSK and Middle Sea Tanker KAMA visited Karachi Port from 26 to 30 November 18. The visit of Russian Federation Navy ships were fully capitalized in terms of professional and social interactions between both the navies. During their stay at Karachi, the Officers and men of Russian Federation Navy interacted with senior officials of Pakistan Navy on subjects of mutual interests. Officers and men from the two visiting ships also visited IDEAS 2018 at EXPO Center. Pakistan Navy and Russian Federation Navy are engaged in bilateral naval exercise since 2014 under code name ARABIAN MONSOON. The exercise is regularly conducted during the port visits by naval ships to each others' country. Upon completion of eventful stay by the Russian Federation Navy Ships at Karachi, bilateral Exercise Arabian Monsoon was conducted in North Arabian Sea to enhance interoperability between participating navies through development/ rehearsing tactics, techniques and procedures in sync with the requirements of modern day naval warfare. The professional experience gained by both navies during the visit and bilateral exercise will be mutually rewarding, and certainly enhance interoperability and open more avenues of bilateral cooperation/ collaboration between the two countries. During their visit to Karachi Port, officers of Russian Navy held meetings with field commander of Pakistan Navy and laid wreath at mousleum of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.