Aman is an Urdu word meaning "peace." Under the slogan "Together for Peace," the biennial exercise, led by the Pakistani Navy, was conducted in the North Arabian Sea starting March 5. Naval ships, aircraft and special operations teams from Australia, Bangladesh, China, France, Japan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Turkey, Britain and the United States participated in the event, while 29 countries including Russia, Brazil and Indonesia attended as observers.

(Reporting from Karachi)

Fight Common Challenges

Q&A with Admiral Noman Bashir, Pakistani Chief of the Naval Staff

Beijing Review: What is the significance of Aman 09?

Noman Bashir: The idea of the exercise is to give participating countries an opportunity to work together and to fight the common enemies we face at sea.

Admiral Noman Bashir, Pakistani Chief of the Naval Staff (WANG XIANG)

The challenges at sea have increased. Two years ago, the piracy issue in the waters off Somalia was not as serious as it is today. More and more countries trust the Pakistani Navy, because we are a professional force and they join the exercise to work together to address these challenges.

The exercise helps us operate together, understand each other and develop tactics to meet emerging challenges. Illegal activities such as piracy, terrorism, drug trafficking and smuggling affect everybody. We come together to fight against our common enemies.

What are the implications of Aman 09 for Pakistan?

Pakistan needs to hold more exercises and build up the Navy to have more platforms, more ships and more submarines so that we can contribute more to international peacekeeping efforts.

How do you view the role that the Pakistani Navy plays in fighting against terrorism?

The role of the navy is very important because terrorists might take action on land, but they need to move to areas that are unprotected and unguarded via sea. It is very easy for terrorists to move from one place to another and carry out terrorist attacks. Guarding the sea requires a lot of resources. No single country can tackle the problem by itself.

The Pakistani Navy is committed to fighting all common challenges in the area. Now the added challenge in the area is piracy. There are a number of countries engaged in anti-piracy operations, and the Pakistani Navy has been granted commissions from the government to spend on resources, so we can participate in the international community with everybody else.