After wrapping up its 3-day goodwill visit to Pakistan, the Chinese naval task force made up of the "Shenzhen" missile destroyer and the "Weishanhu" comprehensive supply ship carried out a joint maritime search-and-rescue exercise codenamed "Sino-Pakistani Friendship 2005" in a non-traditional security field with Pakistani navy at 2:40 p.m. of Nov. 24 local time in northern sea area of the Arabian Sea. It was the first-ever Sino-Pakistani joint naval exercise held in the Arabian Sea.

　　The tactical problem of the exercise was: Upon the UN request, China and Pakistan decided to form a joint naval task force to carry out humanitarian rescue operation in a sea area where a third nation's ship had run into a strong typhoon. After receiving the rescue order, the "Shenzhen" missile destroyer and the "Weishanhu" comprehensive supply ship of the Chinese Navy, and the "Tariq" missile destroyer and the "Moawen" comprehensive supply ship of the Pakistani Navy, sailed promptly from their respective sea areas towards a rendezvous point. During the drill, the naval ships of the two countries conducted signal communication drills of different forms, formed up their joint task force into four different search-and-rescue formations, conducted search-and-rescue operation by dividing waters into several sectors, and carried out maritime medical rescue operation, etc.

　　It was the second time for the Chinese Navy to carry out exercise with its Pakistani counterpart in a non-traditional security field. On Oct. 22, 2003, the Chinese naval ships and a Pakistani naval task force on a port call in Shanghai held their first joint exercise off the East China Sea coast.

　　By Wang Shibin and Zhong Kuirun

　　(Nov.25, PLA Daily)