ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan and Russian navies on Wednesday agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation to deal with challenges related to maritime security.

According to Pakistan Navy’s media directorate, during their meeting at Saint Petersburg, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi and Commander-in-Chief of Russian Navy Admiral Vladimir Korolyov decided to step up “efforts to effectively confront the trans-national challenges and threats in the maritime domain”.

Admiral Abbasi is on a visit to Russia. The navy expects that the chief’s visit to Russia would strengthen defence ties between the two countries.

Admiral Abbasi and Admiral Korolyov in their meeting deliberated on various avenues of cooperation between the two navies.

Admiral Abbasi briefed his host about the forthcoming multinational naval exercise AMAN-19, which is being hosted by Pakistan in the 1st quarter of 2019. He highlighted Pakistan’s commitment and contributions in the fight against terrorism, including the Regional Maritime Security Patrols (RMSP) initiative against piracy and maritime terrorism.

Published in Dawn, November 8th, 2018