By Fawad Hassan
A ship in distress cannot wait for nations to resolve their differences. Nor do piracy, trafficking or disruptions to maritime trade remain confined to the waters where they originate. At sea, geography creates shared interests, and emergencies test the strength of relationships built beforehand. This reality gives Pakistan Navy’s Exercise AMAN its enduring relevance: maritime cooperation must be cultivated before it is needed.
Commencing on 27 January 2027, the tenth edition of AMAN will mark twenty years since Pakistan Navy launched the initiative in 2007. The anniversary invites reflection on how a multinational naval exercise has developed into a sustained platform for engagement across maritime regions. Under the motto “Together for Peace,” AMAN has brought diverse navies into a common professional setting, providing opportunities to build confidence through dialogue and practical cooperation.
Its founding purpose remains compelling. The oceans sustain trade, energy supplies and livelihoods, yet securing them exceeds the capacity of any single navy. Maritime forces operate with different resources, procedures and national priorities. Working effectively together requires familiarity that cannot be improvised during a crisis. AMAN creates space to develop that familiarity through repeated contact, shared planning and coordinated activity.
The exercise’s expanding participation illustrates its growing international reach. From 28 countries in 2007, representation increased to 50 in 2023, while the ninth edition in February 2025 brought together over 60 countries through ships, aircraft, specialist teams and observers. These different forms of participation allow a broad range of maritime nations to contribute, exchange experience and develop professional connections.
Numbers, however, tell only part of the story. The more consequential measure is the willingness of countries to return and deepen their engagement. Trust develops gradually: through a planning discussion, a procedure understood, or a training serial completed successfully. Across successive editions, such encounters can turn initial acquaintance into dependable working relationships. AMAN’s continuity gives this process an institutional foundation.
Pakistan’s location lends particular significance to its role as host. Situated on the Arabian Sea, close to the approaches to the Gulf, the country occupies an important position within the wider Indian Ocean maritime environment. Through AMAN, Pakistan Navy connects concerns arising in these waters with experience from other maritime regions. Historical participation from the Gulf, Europe, East Asia and North America has widened the exchange of operational knowledge and regional perspectives.
This diversity is one of AMAN’s principal strengths. Navies bring experience shaped by different coastlines, shipping patterns, security challenges and resources. Bringing those perspectives together helps participants examine familiar problems from unfamiliar angles. A lesson drawn from one maritime region may offer a useful starting point for addressing a challenge elsewhere.
The exercise also provides room for professional engagement among countries whose broader strategic outlooks may differ. Protecting shipping, responding to distress and addressing maritime crime create specific areas of shared interest. Cooperation on these tasks can sustain communication and build confidence without requiring agreement on every international issue. In a divided strategic environment, maintaining such avenues of engagement has considerable value.
AMAN gives these relationships practical substance through its harbour and sea phases. Discussions, demonstrations and planning ashore prepare participants for coordinated activities at sea, including manoeuvres, maritime security drills and search-and-rescue exercises. This progression allows ideas discussed around a table to be tested under operational conditions, where clarity of communication and understanding of procedures become essential.
For the personnel involved, the benefits can outlast the exercise. Officers who have planned together gain insight into one another’s methods. Crews that have operated alongside foreign ships acquire experience in coordination across different systems and practices. During a subsequent encounter or emergency, that familiarity may help reduce uncertainty and support a more effective response.
Pakistan Navy expanded the scope of this engagement through the inaugural AMAN Dialogue in 2025. By bringing naval and coastguard leaders together with other stakeholders, it complemented practical training with discussion of regional and global maritime concerns. The connection matters: operational experience can inform strategic debate, while dialogue can help identify priorities for future cooperation.
As maritime challenges evolve, AMAN’s relevance will depend on adapting while preserving its clear purpose. Cyber risks, emerging technologies and environmental pressures add new demands to established security responsibilities. Professional exchanges between editions, focused follow-up and the application of lessons learned could further strengthen the partnerships developed during the exercise.
For Pakistan Navy, the twentieth anniversary represents both an achievement and a responsibility. Sustaining a platform of this breadth requires consistent effort, credible organization and attention to the interests of participating nations. Its future success will rest on the quality of engagement and the practical value partners derive from it.
When the tenth edition convenes in January 2027, its significance will extend beyond the ships assembled and flags displayed. It will lie in the relationships renewed, knowledge exchanged and capacity for cooperation strengthened. Two decades after its inception, AMAN continues to give practical expression to a necessary idea: nations that depend on the same seas have a shared interest in keeping them secure.
