Two Decades of Exercise AMAN: Anchoring Peace Across Maritime Regions

By Muhammad Aoun

Pakistan Navy’s multinational exercise AMAN planned in 2027 will complete two decades as one of the most consistent and inclusive initiatives for naval cooperation in the Indian Ocean region. Conceived in 2007 under the motto Together for Peace the biennial exercise was designed to bring regional and extra-regional navies onto a common professional platform at a time when maritime threats were becoming increasingly transnational. Its name, reflects its central purpose, to promote stability, mutual confidence and collective responsibility across the seas.

Over twenty years, AMAN has grown from a primarily regional counterterrorism and anti-piracy initiative into a broader forum for operational coordination, strategic dialogue and maritime diplomacy. The inaugural exercise in March 2007 brought together 28 countries. By its ninth edition in February 2025, participation had expanded to approximately 60 countries, with naval ships, aircraft, marines, special operations forces and observers converging in Karachi and the North Arabian Sea.

This expansion is significant because it demonstrates that AMAN is no longer merely a Pakistan Navy exercise; it has become a trusted meeting point for navies from different regions and strategic outlooks. Its enduring value lies in its ability to connect regional stakeholders with extra-regional powers around a shared interest i:e safe, open and secure seas. The exercise’s growing participation reflects international confidence in Pakistan Navy’s commitment to maritime security and its role as a key stakeholder in the Arabian Sea and wider Indian Ocean region.

The essence of AMAN’s evolution is based on the principle of partnerships across maritime Regions. Maritime challenges rarely respect national boundaries piracy, terrorism, narcotics and human trafficking, illegal fishing, environmental degradation and disruptions to sea lines of communication require coordinated responses. Pakistan’s naval leadership has repeatedly emphasised that no single navy can address these threats alone and that cooperation, information-sharing and interoperability are essential for protecting the global maritime commons. AMAN translates this principle into practical activity.

The 2025 edition also introduced the AMAN Dialogue, a strategic conference bringing together naval leaders, policymakers and academia to address challenges ranging from strategic competition and non-state actors to climate change, emerging technologies and the blue economy.

Two decades after its launch, AMAN’s most important achievement may not be measured solely in the number of ships exercised or countries represented. It lies in the durable habits of cooperation it has helped create, navies learning to operate together, share perspectives and respond collectively to threats that no state can manage in isolation. As maritime competition and non-traditional security risks continue to shape the Indian Ocean, AMAN’s record suggests that partnerships across maritime regions are not optional, they are the foundation of a secure and prosperous future at sea.