Karachi, Feb 11
Pakistan's Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) Admiral Naveed Ashraf visited SLNS Vijaybahu, an advanced offshore patrol vessel of the Sri Lankan Navy, during the ongoing multinational maritime exercise Aman 2025 being held in Karachi, Lankan media reported on Tuesday.
Ashraf was welcomed by Commander of the Northern Naval area Rear Admiral Thushara Karunathunga and several other officers, including Sri Lanka's Defence Attache to Pakistan, as he boarded the ship.
A crew of over 100 naval officers has travelled from Colombo to Pakistan to participate in the maritime exercise, reported Daily Mirror.
"Aman means peace, but this is more than just an exercise. With the Sri Lankan Navy and other navies, this is an opportunity to show our collective resolve and our commitment to work together and make the seas secure for our future generations," Ashraf told the leading Lankan daily.
Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff General Syed Asim Munir had also met Bangladesh's Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Mohammad Nazmul Hassan in Rawalpindi recently. This marked the second high-level meeting of defence officials between two countries in less than a month.
In January, a six-member military delegation from Dhaka, led by Principal Staff Officer of the Armed Forces Division Lt. Gen. S M Kamrul Hasan, visited Pakistan in its first official security-level meeting after the interim government in Bangladesh assumed office in August 2024.
The team led by Hasan met the Pakistan Army Chief in Rawalpindi and held extensive talks during its January 13-18 visit.
Within a few days, a four-member team from Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) led by Major General Shahid Amir Afsar arrived in Dhaka for a high-level meeting between the Pakistan spy agency and the Bangladeshi military, the first since 2009.
The engagements between ISI and Bangladesh raised alarm in neighbouring countries, including India which continues to face serious security concerns on its eastern and northeastern borders after the fall of the government led by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August 2024.