China’s naval drills with Pakistan
China and Pakistan have held naval drills in the Arabian Sea, the Chinese military has said. A Chinese naval fleet arrived in Karachi on 10th May. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) said it comprised the guided-missile destroyer Changchun, guided-missile frigate Jinzhou and supply ship Chaohu for a four-day visit.
A group of officers of the Chinese fleet including Rear Admiral Shen Hao and Senior Captain Xu Ping visited Monday the Pakistan Naval Academy located in Manora Island, Karachi. The Pakistan Naval Academy was established in 1970 , and a number of top commanding officers of the Pakistani Navy, including the present Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Muhammad Zakaullah, all graduated from this academy.
The operational commanding officers and special troops of the two navies conducted on June 12 professional discussion on anti-piracy, civil ship escort and other subjects.
"The Chinese naval fleet also hold a joint drill with Pakistani Navy flotilla in the Arabian Sea of the northern Indian Ocean", the PLA said.
China's ships and submarines have been visiting Karachi with increasing frequency.
The exercises with Pakistan come as China goes ahead with developing the Gwadar port that it has been managing on the Arabian Sea, part of its China Pakistan Economic Corridor plan.
Karachi is, for now, a crucial lynchpin for Chinese submarines in the Indian Ocean, with Sri Lanka in the past two years declining Chinese requests for port calls after India voiced its concern when the previous Rajapaksa government gave Beijing the green light.
The two navies have conducted joint maritime exercises for several times. This time, the two sides will have exchange of commanding officers to achieve joint operational commanding of the drill.
These three Chinese naval vessels are making a goodwill tour of 20 nations along the route of China's "21st Century Maritime Silk Road,”. From 23rd to 27th May they were in Yangon for the PLA(N)'s first-ever naval exercise with the Myanmar Navy. They conducted a variety of exercises with the Myanmar Navy, focusing primarily on communications and search and rescue.
The naval exercises followed shortly after China's high-profile "Belt and Road Forum" in Beijing, which brought together leaders from around the world to discuss Chinese-led economic development initiatives. Xinhua noted that the Myanmar exercises also began on the same day that The Association of Southeast Asian Nations agreed to a new framework for a South China Sea "code of conduct."
Over the past decade, China has generally disregarded the territorial-seas provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which limit sovereign waters to 12 nm from shore and EEZs to 200 nm. Instead, it has conducted a campaign to build fortified islands on far-flung reefs and atolls in the Spratly Islands, despite a ruling from the Permanent Court of Arbitration that declared China's sweeping claims invalid.
Under the new draft framework, ASEAN and China will work towards a regional code of conduct for maritime affairs in the South China Sea. So far, the framework "does not involve substantive terms," according to Chinese state-owned Global Times and reports suggest that the final product of the talks may be non-binding.