By fostering a culture of cooperation and collaboration, a framework like AMAN Exercise can help build the capacity of regional littorals to effectively address security challenges in the region.
Commodore Sohail Ahmad Azmie
The Indian Ocean is a vital region for global commerce and energy security. Over 60% of the world’s oil supplies, and more than 80% of the world’s seaborne trade in petroleum products transit, through the Indian Ocean. Given its strategic importance, ensuring the security of the Indian Ocean is crucial for regional stability and global peace.
The Indian Ocean, for most of its recent history has depended significantly on extra-regional forces for ensuring maritime security. AMAN Exercise, held in the waters of the Indian Ocean region, is an important initiative aimed at enhancing maritime security in the region.
It argues well for both the nations in the region and beyond to come closer and operate together to realize and own maritime security. Organized by the Pakistan Navy biennially since 2007, the exercise aims to promote regional peace and stability by fostering a common understanding and approach to maritime security issues.
The exercise involves participation from more than 40 countries, including the United States, China, Russia, Iran, and India, among others. The exercise involves a variety of activities, including search and rescue operations, anti-piracy operations, and coordinated patrols, aimed at enhancing cooperation and interoperability among participating countries. It assures participating nations that learning from each other and enhancing maritime capacity is possible, which would ultimately help in making seas secure for economic benefits.
The Indian Ocean region faces a number of maritime security challenges, including piracy, terrorism, illegal fishing, human trafficking, and drug smuggling, which threaten the stability and security of the region and have a direct impact on the global economy.
For example, piracy off the coast of Somalia had resulted in increased insurance costs, rerouting of shipping lanes, and a decline in trade and investment. Though the piracy in this particular part has receded, but its occurrence in near future cannot be entirely ruled out. Drugs continue to pour in despite numerous catches in recent past through Pakistan maritime forces’ ships and other vessels operating in the region.
As regard to extra-regional constructs, the CTF-150 and CTF-151 are two naval task forces operating in the Indian Ocean region. CTF-150 is part of the US-led Combined Maritime Forces and is based in Bahrain. CTF-151 is a multinational task force established by the Combined Maritime Forces to counter piracy and armed robbery at sea off the coast of Somalia.
Both of these task forces have substantial number of foreign ships, which may not be entirely familiar with the region and regional sensitivities. While both task forces play an important role in ensuring the security of the Indian Ocean, they also highlight the dependence on extra-regional forces in addressing security challenges in the region.
AMAN Exercise can help reduce the dependence on extra-regional forces in addressing security challenges in the Indian Ocean. It provides a platform for regional littorals to work together and develop a common understanding and approach to maritime security issues.
By fostering a culture of cooperation and collaboration, a framework like AMAN can help build the capacity of regional littorals to effectively address security challenges. AMAN is not suggestive of a ‘military alliance’ type architecture that we once had during the Cold War, but it asks for voluntarily participation based on regional interests, while working with extra-regional countries. It is attempting to reinvigorate the spirit of ‘region-owned and region-led’ approach that could best answer the myriad issues that the Indian Ocean finds itself in.
AMAN exercise provides an important initiative for enhancing maritime security in the Indian Ocean region. The Indian Ocean is a vital region for global commerce and energy security, and ensuring its security is crucial for regional stability and global peace. A region-centric maritime framework, based on cooperation, collaboration, and information sharing among participating countries, is crucial for addressing the security challenges in the region.
By fostering a culture of cooperation and collaboration, a framework like AMAN Exercise can help build the capacity of regional littorals to effectively address security challenges in the region.
The writer is a senior naval officer and regularly writes on Blue Economy and maritime affairs.
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