The National Institute of Maritime Affairs (NIMA), in partnership with the Institute of Regional Studies (IRS), hosted a closing session that focused on the changing geostrategic scenario in the Indian Ocean. Vice Admiral (Retd) Iftikhar Ahmad Rao, SAPM on Maritime Affairs, served as the event’s Chief Guest.
SAPM, while addressing the audience, unequivocally denied that the Pakistan Navy is a member of the Red Sea coalition operating under US Taskforce-153. Pakistani naval ships are deployed under an autonomous national tasking, known as the Regional Maritime Security Patrol (RMSP), to boost trust in Pakistani-bound shipping. He also discussed the current government efforts aimed at developing Pakistan’s maritime sector.
Vice Admiral (Retd) Ahmed Saeed, President of NIMA, emphasized the essential importance of growing geo-strategic concerns affecting the geoeconomics of the Indian Ocean in his opening remarks. He sincerely thanked all of the presenters at the six seminars held since July 2022, all of which focused on the “Strategic Significance of the Indian Ocean”.
Prominent speakers such as Amb. Masood Khalid, Amb. Naghmana Hashmi, Air Marshal (Retd) Farooq Habib of CASS, Prof. Dr. Nazir Hussain, Former Dean of Social Sciences at QAU, Maritime Specialist Prof. Dr. Azhar Ahmad, and Security Analyst Syed Muhammad Ali shed light on the various aspects of the Indian Ocean’s strategic significance.
Amb. Nadeem Riyaz, President IRS, praised the speakers and coordinators for making this event productive and a huge success. Ambassadors, analysts, government officials, academia, media representatives, think tank members, as well as university students and teachers, attended the event in large numbers. The program provided an opportunity for honest talks and knowledge exchange about the Indian Ocean’s geostrategic situation.
