At a naval base in Karachi on Saturday, the navies of the “all-weather” allies, China and Pakistan, kicked off their largest-ever exercise in the waters and airspace of the northern Arabian Sea.
Islamabad and Beijing in the Arabian Sea
The drills, which include anti-submarine operations, training courses in formation manoeuvring, VBSS (visit, board, search and seizure), helicopter cross-deck landing, joint search and rescue, and main gun shooting, will run until 17 November.
The People’s Liberation Army Daily said on Monday that China and Pakistan will conduct joint maritime patrols for the first time during the ongoing Sea Guardian-3 exercise.
According to Chinese state mouthpiece Global Times, the drills will help “enhance their capabilities in jointly safeguarding strategic sea lanes” as well as maintain “regional peace and stability.”
Russia’s Maritime Excursions
The exercise comes only a few days after Russia’s Pacific Fleet practised repelling attacks with Myanmar in their first joint maritime exercise.
Held from 7-9 November in the Andaman Sea on the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, Moscow called it “the first Russian-Myanmar naval exercise in modern history.” It also marked Russia’s naval presence in a maritime body that the US considers one of its global security interests.
China, Pakistan hold largest-ever joint naval drills
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The Interfax news agency reported Admiral Tributs and Admiral Panteleyev as the two large Russian anti-submarine ships that participated in the exercises with a frigate and a corvette of Myanmar’s navy.
US-India Ties to Counter?
Against the backdrop of Russia strengthening its military ties with Myanmar, and China doing the same with Pakistan, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin held defence talks in New Delhi on 10 November with their Indian counterparts.
In a joint statement released after their “2+2 Dialogue,” Washington and New Delhi expressed deep concern over the war in Ukraine but did not explicitly mention Russia. They also pledged their commitment to safeguarding a free and open Indo-Pacific.
New Delhi has carefully preserved its longstanding positive relations with Moscow, including defence cooperation, despite increased pressure from the West in the aftermath of the Ukraine War. Meanwhile, its ties with Washington have also grown steadily stronger.
Similarly, China was excluded from the joint statement, even though an Indian government official said ahead of the talks that China would be one of the “key focus points.”
These events come ahead of a highly anticipated meeting between US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in San Francisco on Wednesday, where Washington is expected to seek a re-establishment of military-to-military ties with Beijing.