Chinese and Pakistani warships participating in the China-Pakistan Sea Guardian 2023 joint maritime exercise sail to the designated sea area on November 14, 2023.
By Fang Sihang and Zhang Yuanhu
KARACHI, Nov.16 -- The China-Pakistan Sea Guardian 2023 joint maritime exercise transitioned from the shore-based exchanges phase to the phase of joint maritime drills on November 14. On the day, participating warships from the two sides left Karachi Port, Pakistan, and headed for the waters of the northern Arabian Sea.
After departing from the port, six participating ships, including Chinese naval ships Zibo, Jingzhou and Qiandaohu, and Pakistani naval ship Shahjahan, sailed in formation towards the target sea area. At the same time, Chinese guided-missile frigate Linyi and Pakistani ship PNS Saif undertook the joint maritime patrol task.
On the first day of the live drills, the two sides conducted training courses such as VBSS (visit, board, search and seizure), air-defense communication, and joint anti-submarine operations. During the process, ships from the two sides served as the commanding ship alternately, and both sides' observers also swapped the hulls to observe the organization and implementation of the drills.
It is learnt that the joint maritime drills involved combined arms. The two sides had held multiple times of consultations on the scenarios during the phase of shore-based exchanges, and their collaboration, pragmatic cooperation and joint operational capabilities have been constantly enhanced.
