Exercise Aman as a Springboard for Greater Maritime

Exercise Aman is poised to begin soon, marking the 9th edition of this significant biennial event, which has been held in Karachi since 2007. Over the years, much has been discussed about the exercise, but it’s important to ask: what does it truly accomplish that matters on a regional or global scale? One might argue that there are numerous other multinational maritime exercises, such as RIMPAC, Kakadu, Malabar, IMDEX, Komodo and Joint Warrior, which also involve the participation of multiple nations. So what makes Exercise Aman distinct? While it shares similarities with these high-profile exercises, the key difference lies in its unparalleled ability to provide a platform that brings together diverse nations. The true impact of Exercise Aman is not just in the naval drills or intellectual discourse, but in its power to unite countries with varying geopolitical interests and military orientations. It’s rare to see China, Russia, the United States and Iran side-by-side anywhere else. This gathering of such disparate powers on one platform is not only rare but essential in today’s complex global landscape, creating opportunities for dialogue, understanding and cooperation where it would not normally exist.

As I previously discussed in my Op-Ed, ‘United by tides, knotted by oceans,’ published in The Nation on November 5, 2024, navies have the ability to come ‘closer and operate together,’ irrespective of political barriers that may at times seem hard to transcend. Exercise Aman, in my perspective, could be thought of paving way for ‘weaving trust’ and ‘catalyzing willingness’ for ‘greater maritime cooperation.’ Because this is what is mostly needed for the current and emerging challenges and not the hardcore naval warfare tactics, which basically are essential for fighting traditional wars. Aman is not about fighting wars, but about finding ways to keep the seas securer, safer and freer.

‘Weaving trust’ in the context of Exercise Aman is a deliberate process of building relationships that are strong, resilient and enduring. Each participating nation contributes a thread to a fabric of mutual understanding, respect and collaboration. Trust is weaved as navies from diverse geopolitical backgrounds once gather at one place. For example, during the AMAN-21 exercise, over 45 countries, including the US, China and Russia, came together despite their stark strategic differences. Another constituent of weaving trust is the interoperability. We often think in technical terms when we refer to ‘interoperability,’ but it has a human dimension too. Aman facilitates trust-building by allowing naval professionals from different navies to work side by side, sharing best practices and developing a mutual understanding of operating procedures. This is human interoperability. And such an interoperability, in great measure, reduces misconceptions, misunderstandings and miscommunication, cumulatively enabling weaving of trust among the participating parties.

‘Catalyzing willingness’ is about the transformative power of Exercises Aman, which inspires the participants to take proactive roles in maritime cooperation by committing resources, energy and intellectual capital toward objectives that affect us all. Tangible benefits of collaboration, eg, maritime domain awareness is important for smaller nations like Tanzania and Djibouti, which lack resources, find value in the cooperation as professed by Aman to protect their maritime interests. Coming to Aman builds confidence among the participants to undertake riskier yet necessary operations, such as handling illegal fishing, human/narco smuggling and arms trafficking. Another conspicuous factor that makes Aman a bit different from rest of the international maritime exercises is its inclusivity, which promotes an ‘egalitarian approach’ to maritime cooperation, eg, in the Aman Dialogue, the smaller states are likely to be given an equal voice, which certainly will result in the enhanced willingness to participate and cooperate in pursuit of common good. While delving into ways for catalyzing willingness, sometimes a question may arise, whether Aman is an end or a means to an end? Of course, it is a mean to an end. The end for some could be a state of maritime security that keeps the seas stable, and for some Aman could lead to more focused bilateral engagements among the participants who may have interacted for first time at Aman’s platform.

Weaving trust and catalyzing willingness, as the two ‘operational’ lines of effort of Aman are ultimately linked to the clearer end state of ‘greater maritime cooperation.’ But the key question is as what really has been the practical manifestation of greater maritime cooperation or what it could be in the future? I’d say if I have to pick three concrete domains, it would be: information sharing, practitioners’ exchange of real-world challenges and capacity building. Aman participants have regularly been briefed/ shown Pakistan’s Joint Maritime Information & Coordination Centre, which now remains integrated with 8 international agencies/ departments. Commencing with this year’s edition, Aman Dialogue is all about listening and sharing views with the naval leaders around the world on the challenges that they continue to face or expected to confront at seas and what may possibly be done to deal with it. This newer aspect of Aman is definitely the practical form making space for further cooperation. Smaller navies get to know how things are changing and from where they can get support for their capacity building. Aman actually helped states like Djibouti, Sri Lanka, Iraq, Bahrain and Qatar to explore avenues for training, technological collaboration and operational refinement.

Exercise Aman is more than just a series of maritime drills; it embodies a unique opportunity for participants to transcend political divides and build partnerships. By focusing on human interoperability, inclusivity and tangible outcomes, Aman suggests recoursing to a more unified and resilient maritime community. As the exercise continues to evolve, it remains an important mean for international cooperation at sea aiming for a more secure and stable maritime future for all.

Sohail A Azmie

–The writer is an Islamabad-based researcher; his areas of interest include: maritime security, climate change and astropolitics. He can be reached at voxoceanus@outlook.com.