- Naval chief says Pak Navy well equipped, highly motivated, fully capable to defend Maritime Frontiers of Pakistan
Pakistan Navy is well equipped, highly motivated and fully capable to defend the Maritime Frontiers of Pakistan, said Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Muhammad Zakaullah on Tuesday while addressing the officers of 44th PN Staff Course at Pakistan Navy War College on National Security Challenges to Pakistan.
The Chief of the Naval Staff said that the global environment continues to be in a flux with increased pace of transition.
“The waning uni-polarity has given way to the multiple power centres with growing spheres of influence. In the maritime domain, control of oceans as a strategic space has emerged as a defining feature in the last few decades,” he said.
“This is owing to increasing geo-political contest among the major powers for resources and political influence. The Indian Ocean region figures out most prominently with near permanent presence of the Extra Regional Forces, both ashore and at sea,” he added.
The Naval chief further said that in the backdrop of the prevailing environment contemporary strategists consider that the 21st century is going to unfold as a pre-dominantly ‘maritime century’ where the destiny of the world is going to be decided at oceans.
Highlighting the versatility of military functions of the maritime forces, Admiral Zakaullah mentioned that these were well exemplified during both Gulf wars through offensive operations, during the Libyan intervention in 2011 through naval blockade and lately during the Yemen crisis through arms embargo against insurgents.
“All these examples underscore that naval forces without any need for a foot-print on land, are best suited for influencing the armed conflicts ashore,” he said.
The Naval chief reiterated that in the immediate aftermath of Yemen crisis, the unique flexibility of Naval forces came in handy to provide support in the maritime domain without actually having a footprint on ground.
“During this crisis, Pakistan Navy was quick to respond and PN ships were deployed off Yemen coast in the Gulf of Aden. These ships evacuated 245 civilians including 50 foreigners from 13 different countries,” he elaborated.
Underlining the maritime potential of Pakistan, the Naval Chief reminded about huge economic resources lying untapped in our exclusive economic zone and the recently extended continental shelf as well as the immense maritime-economic potential of our coastline, adding that tapping of these resources are imperative to realise our full maritime potential.
While talking of development of maritime sector in the country, Naval Chief referred about Single Point Mooring near Karachi and the newly built LNG terminal at Port Qasim.
“The real game changer is going to be the Gwadar port when it fully realizes its potential and the related strategic development of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is materialised,” he concluded.
