This month the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation announced that vessels of its Black Sea Fleet will take part in next year’s AMAN-2021 international naval exercise in the waters off the coast of Pakistan near Karachi.

“A planning conference took place in Sevastopol on participation of the Russian Navy in the AMAN-2021 international exercise, which will take place in the waters of Pakistani port of Karachi,” a Black Sea Fleet spokesperson told Tass. “The exercise has been initiated by the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, who also provided area for the upcoming exercise.”

The Russian Navy will represent the forces of the Black Sea Fleet, including a frigate, a patrol ship, a rescue tug, a Marine Corps unit, a demining squad and a sea-based helicopter. 

The announcement of Russia’s participation comes following a “passing exercise” (PASSEX) that was conducted with the Indian Navy. Those two-day joint naval drills took place the first week of December and included India’s first domestically-built stealth multi-role frigate INS Shivalik, and the anti-submarine warfare (ASW) corvette INS Kadmatt. The two Indian warships were joined by the Russian Navy’s missile cruiser Varyag, large ASW warship Admiral Panteleyev and tanker Pechenga.

Russia is not the only country to announce that it will take part in next year’s AMAN-2021 exercise. Already, more than thirty countries have confirmed their participation in the exercise. Ten of the nations will send naval personnel and vessels, while the rest will send official observers. The goals of the exercise are to strengthen and develop military cooperation between the participating countries in the interests of security and stability at sea, as well as an exchange of experience between naval sailors in repelling the threats of sea piracy in areas of intensive shipping. 

AMAN-2021 could also be seen as a peacebuilding exercise as some regional rivals have committed so far. According to Tass the United States, UK, China, Japan, Turkey, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Malaysia are among those nations that will send warships or other vessels besides Pakistan and Russia. 

“The joint participation of the Russian Navy ships and the North Atlantic Alliance will take place ten years after the ‘Bold Monarch-2011’ exercise, which took place near the shores of Spain,” the Black Sea Fleet spokesperson added. 

It isn’t uncommon for navies around the world to take part in such exercises, but in recent years many of these have conducted among de facto “allies.” Last December, Russia held joint drills in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Oman with China and Iran, and that followed a similar Iranian/Russian joint exercise in August 2019. China and Pakistan have also held a series of maneuvers together, while the United States already recently took part in the Malabar 2020 training operations with India, Australia and Japan.

Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer who has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers and websites. He is the author of several books on military headgear including A Gallery of Military Headdress, which is available on Amazon.com. 

Image: Reuters