Correction: A previous version of this story misidentified the ship type of China\u2019s Linyi, which is a frigate.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
ISLAMABAD \u2014 China and Pakistan on Friday wrapped up their largest bilateral naval exercise to date, marking the first time Pakistan hosted such an advanced Chinese destroyer for training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Sea Guardians event is the latest in series of joint maritime exercises that began in 2014, but this is the third time it took on that title. The drills take place annually, and the two countries alternate as hosts. The sea phase this month off Pakistan\u2019s port city of Karachi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The exercise, which ran Nov. 11-17, aimed to demonstrate China and Pakistan\u2019s common aim to safeguard their shared economic corridor \u2014 a key part of Beijing\u2019s Belt and Road Initiative \u2014 according to Senior Capt. Qi Jian of the Chinese People\u2019s Liberation Army Navy, who spoke during a media briefing before the drills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Officials at the briefing also noted the exercise would help strengthen Sino-Pakistan relations and explore new avenues for naval cooperation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Chinese contingent included the Type 052DL destroyer Zibo, the latest version of the design that reportedly features anti-stealth capabilities, and a Song-class submarine. This is the first time Pakistan hosted such an advanced Chinese destroyer for an exercise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other Chinese submarines have visited Pakistan. In 2015, a Type 039A\/Type 041 Yuan diesel-electric sub docked in Karachi, followed by a Type 093 Shang nuclear-powered attack boat in 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The rest of the Chinese fleet attending this month\u2019s exercise included the two Type 054A frigates Jingzhou and Linyi, the submarine support ship and replenishment vessel Qiandaohua, helicopters, and a marine detachment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One element of the exercise began Nov. 14 with Chinese vessels and the Pakistani Type 054A\/P frigate Shahjahan sailing out of Karachi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Chinese frigate Linyi and the Pakistani F-22P frigate Saif appear to have undertaken separate joint maritime drills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other elements of the Pakistan Navy participating in the exercise included Azmat-class missile boats and aircraft. The head of the Pakistan Navy\u2019s media branch, Commodore Syed Rizwan Khalid, said no Pakistani submarine attended, noting that \u201cfor the safety of participating units, normally only one submarine participates in an exercise.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Command of the flotilla rotated to each ship, with onboard observers monitoring the organization and implementation of the drills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Khalid told Defense News the drills \u201csimulated [a] multi-threat environment.\u201d The training \u2014 for visit, board, search and seizure missions; air defense; anti-surface warfare; joint anti-submarine warfare; countermine operations; and special operations \u2014 helped \u201cfurther enhance maritime cooperation and defense relations through mutual exchange of maritime experience and interoperability between the two navies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBoth navies have been regularly participating in this series of exercises, and interoperability between both the navies has significantly matured to undertake full-spectrum maritime operations together in the Arabian Sea,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Frank O\u2019Donnell, a South Asia expert with the Stimson Center think tank, said this month\u2019s Sea Guardians event reemphasized \u201cChinese commitment to modernizing Pakistan\u2019s Navy and expanding its presence in the Indian Ocean.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
India\u2019s Navy, he told Defense News, was \u201creportedly tracking all the Chinese ships involved in the exercise, but it will be especially concerned by the Chinese selection of a Type 052 guided-missile destroyer and Type 039 diesel-electric attack submarine to participate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While India and Pakistan are rivals, they both have friendly relations with China. However, India and China have clashed<\/a> in recent years over a border dispute<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThese ship classes are often key elements of [anti-access\/area denial] strategies, which has long been Pakistan\u2019s naval approach towards India. China-Pakistan operations involving these vessels will strengthen Pakistan\u2019s capabilities toward expanding its A2\/AD envelope against India,\u201d O\u2019Donnell said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the Song-class boat may not be China\u2019s most advanced submarine, O\u2019Donnell said its presence likely concerned India, as did the value it provided to Pakistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn particular the Type 039 \u2014 as a predecessor class to the eight Type 041s, which Pakistan is acquiring from China, and which will likely be tasked with dual nuclear and conventional strike missions \u2014 will give Pakistan additional experience of effectively operating with a submarine very similar to the ones it is inducting,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" India is likely concerned about the submarine’s presence, an expert tells Defense News.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":117981,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":26,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[45,160,11,16,36,26,164],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3413],"class_list":["post-66449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia-pacific","category-daily-news-roundup","category-global","category-naval","category-newsletters","category-training-sim","category-training-simulation-report"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"VCMYXGCT4VFB5AHLTYVE54JQKI","arc_canonical_url":"\/training-sim\/2023\/11\/17\/china-pakistan-wrap-up-naval-drill-featuring-sub-high-tech-destroyer\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n