For the first time, an ‘AMAN dialogue’ would be held in tandem with the Pakistan Navy’s flagship AMAN naval exercises next month, Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) Admiral Naveed Ashraf revealed in an interview published on Thursday.

Admiral Naveed told the Global Times that the multinational AMAN-25 exercise will be hosted by the Pakistan Navy in early February in Karachi. He said the main objective of AMAN was to promote regional cooperation to maintain good order at sea.

Ashraf disclosed that the maiden ‘AMAN Dialogue’ would be held along with AMAN-25. “The AMAN dialogue aims to promote understanding on maritime security issues, find ways to strengthen cooperation at sea and discuss security related to the blue economy,” he added.

The CNS said the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) navy had participated in all the previous editions of AMAN. He hoped that the PLA Navy would also participate in AMAN-25, adding that he looked forward to hosting the PLA Navy leadership at the ‘AMAN Dialogue’.

The last AMAN exercises were held in February 2023, with navies from more than 50 countries participating. CNS said Pakistan Navy was fully prepared for AMAN-25 with increased participation of friendly countries in a professional and appropriate manner.

In addition to the AMAN series exercises, China and Pakistan also regularly conduct Sea Guardian bilateral naval exercises. The China-Pakistan Sea Guardian-3 joint maritime exercise was held in the waters and airspace of the northern Arabian Sea from November 11 to 17, 2023.