A multinational fleet successfully carried out a search and
rescue drill yesterday in the Arabian Sea off the Pakistani
coast.
Although there were 12 vessels from eight countries joining the
two-hour operation under the command of the Chinese navy, the
communication and coordination went smoothly and they all performed
professionally, said Luo Xianlin, chief of staff of the two-vessel
Chinese flotilla, adding that it was the first time for the Chinese
navy to lead and coordinate a multinational drill on such a
scale.
Lianyungang and Sanming have spent the last few
days participating in the Chinese navy's first-ever multinational
naval exercises in the sea near the Karachi port.
The Chinese navy fired its first-ever batch of shells on
Thursday, when the drills entered the phase for live-fire exercises
and sea operations.
China sent the two-frigate task force at the invitation of
Pakistan, which organized the multinational naval exercises coded
as "Aman 07." The drills, designed to be a display of international
unity in the fight against terrorism and human, drug and weapons
trafficking, have involved 23 warships from nine countries,
including Britain, Bangladesh, China, France, Italy, Malaysia,
Turkey and the US, which sent two aircraft carriers.
The drills should also facilitate interaction among friendly
regional and extra-regional navies. Aman means "peace" in Urdu
language.
"For us, the most important part of the exercises is learning
how to communicate effectively with foreign ships, because all
signals are sent and received in English," said Qiu Yanpeng,
commander of the 400-man Chinese fleet.
Only through such multilateral maneuvers can the Chinese navy
improve its communication skills, refine its procedures and better
cooperate with other countries' navies, he said.
Lianyungang and Sanming left Ningbo Port of east
China's Zhejiang Province on February 19 and traveled
more than 7,000 kilometers before arriving at Karachi navy dockyard
in southern Pakistan.
"Terrorists respect no border or morality," Qiu said, adding
that China is certainly part of the global war on terrorism.
"If we work together, we can more easily stop terrorists and
traffickers from using the sea, through which most international
trade is carried out," Commodore Farrukh Mahpooz of the Pakistani
navy told China Daily on Thursday aboard a participating
Pakistani destroyer.
In addition to the nine participating countries, 24 nations have
sent observers to this event, which will end on Tuesday.
Admiral Muhammad Afzal Tahir, chief of Pakistan's navy staff,
spoke highly of the Chinese navy's participation in the military
drills.
"We are so glad to be the host of such event in which warships
of our friend China and Western navies can operate together," Tahir
told China Daily yesterday.
(Xinhua News Agency, China Daily March 10, 2007)
