Waters have remained the most decisive entity in politics throughout history. From Mahan to Kaplan all strategist have recognized the significance of waters. Indian Ocean, which stretches from eastern coast of Africa to the western coast of Australia, has been a crossroad of different cultures, communities, races, religion. Indian Ocean which is the third largest ocean of the world contains seven world’s most important chokepoints which develop the region’s connection with other regions or areas of the world. There are thirty three littoral and island states having 2.9 billion population. The presence of natural resources and warm waters through which two-third of the world oil shipment and one-third of the world bulk cargoes traffic passes. Indian Ocean has now become the backyard of major power politics as the power politics shifted from Atlantics to the Indian Ocean since World War II. The security setup of Indian Ocean is dynamic and multi-faceted in nature based on traditional and non-traditional paradigms of security. The potential drivers that shape the security dynamics include rise of new regional powers, freedom of navigation, impact of conflicts over the sea, disruption in operations at Sea Lines of Communication, and increasing demand of energy, global warming, pollution, application of Maritime Law. Alliance politics have also played a significant role in shaping the strategic environment of the region.
Pakistan which is present at the mouth of Strait of Hormuz having 900 km long coastline at Arabian Sea which is the centre of Indian Ocean. Pakistan, having strategic location, is one of the most important stakeholder of security setup of Indian Ocean. Pakistan is dependent on the waters for the trade as 95% of the goods and 100% of the oil are being traded off through Indian Ocean. Pakistan have always been a vocal proponent of peace and supported the idea of freedom of navigation. Pakistan believed in cooperation and have advocated multilateral cooperation in order to cope up with the challenges. Pakistan have been a member of initiatives like CTF 150 and 151 to deal with the threats in sea. Pakistan Navy have remained on forefront to protect the waters while executing smart power tactics.
Smart Power:
Power is actually the ability of a state to make other to do thing what they otherwise don’t as it provides legitimacy to the state’s action and increase its area of influence. The main motive behind the pursuit of power is to ensure the security in every aspect and to attain national goals easily. Power is actually a zero sum game of international arena. Traditionally, the power was only associated with the tangible components like size of military, size of territory which are used to deter or compel the other actor. However, as the concept evolve it become more broad and it also get associated with the intangible elements like policies. There are three most important paradigms of power i.e., soft power, hard power and smart power.
The concept of smart power was coined by Joseph Nye refers to the strategy that determine the need to build strong military along with the heavy investment in building institutions, alliance, and partnerships that assist state to establish its influence and state’s action legitimacy. It actually the ability to combine soft power tactics and hard power in such a way that best of both types can be achieved. Soft power refers to the ability through which a state can exercise or projects its power through attraction rather than coercion while hard power refers to the projection of power using coercive methods. Smart power is actually the combination of military, economic, cultural, political and legal tools to achieve the best for the state in a legitimate way.
AMAN Exercises:
A series of multinational exercises are initiated by Pakistan Navy in 2007 called as AMAN Exercises with an objective to promote peace by ensuring maritime security through cooperation. Pakistan is positioning itself as a responsible maritime player in the Indian Ocean by expanding it’s naval capabilities. The exercises held under the motto of ‘Together for Peace’ after every two years provide a platform for addressing impending challenges. The participation in the exercises has significantly grew from 2007 (28 countries were participants) to 2025 (60 participants).
Objectives:
The key objectives of the exercises are as follows,
- Promotion of regional cooperation and strengthening ties among the participants to ensure stability and security.
- Enhancing interoperability by improving communication and coordination among navies to initiate a better response against threat.
- Combating maritime crimes which includes piracy, terrorism and other illegal activities.
- Building confidence and trust among the states.
AMAN-9 Exercise:
Pakistan hosted 9th edition of the AMAN Exercises from 7 February to 11 February, 2025. Almost 60 state’s senior naval and military officials, diplomats, observers has participated in the exercises along with air crafts, ships, special operational forces, marine teams and observers. These officials, observers were mainly belong to the forces of Gulf cooperation countries, NATO, Shanghai Cooperation Organization bringing diverse nations to interact at one platform like US, Russia, China and Iran. Admiral Abdul Munib, who is the Commander of the Pakistan Fleet, was the chief guest of the exercises. There are two phases of the exercise i.e., harbour and sea. The harbour phase which was from 7-9 of February include the seminars, operational discussions, professional demonstration while the sea phase included the tactical maneuvers and security exercises. The highlight of the event was the AMAN dialogue.
Implications of Dialogue:
Hosting exercise is a strategic move of Pakistan to launch itself as a significant player of arena. The platform actually a balancing act as the region of Indian Ocean is politically intense as the growing influence of China raised concerns among the powers like India and US. AMAN Exercises actually a positive initiative in the region that advocates the security in all aspect. It encourage navies to share their expertise and best practices in order to combat non-traditional security threats like counter-terrorism and anti piracy drills. Exercise enhance the diplomatic practices in the region to ensure peace. It just not only a cooperative initiative but also it provide Pakistan a chance to exhibit it’s capabilities and a chance to enhance it’s capabilities.
Initiating exercises is the best tool of smart power that Pakistan has taken. Through exercises Pakistan exhibit its openness to the world and through this Pakistan have the opportunity to attract business. The investment in the exercise build partnership, alliances for the Pakistan (soft power) while adhering to the notion of advancement in military capabilities (hard power).
She is a detail-oriented researcher of International relations with holding M.phil. degree in IR from Kinnaird college for women university and bachelor's degree from LCWU. She has keen interest in areas like foreign policy, strategic and security studies.
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