A Chinese supplied frigate of Pakistani Navy

Pakistan’s senior defence and foreign policy officials have underscored the urgent need to strengthen the country’s naval capabilities in response to evolving security challenges, particularly in the maritime and nuclear domains.

This call for bolstering the navy was articulated prominently during a strategic affairs conference hosted by the Maritime Centre of Excellence at the Pakistan Navy War College in Lahore, held in collaboration with the Centre for International Strategic Studies (CISS).

The event gathered leading strategic experts, diplomats, and military officials, who collectively emphasised a multidimensional approach to national security.

Vice Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ovais Ahmed Bilgrami, highlighted that emerging regional threats call for "integrated, multi-domain security strategies," where the navy must be prepared to operate across land, sea, air, cyber, and space arenas. Bilgrami noted that the Pakistan Navy is actively modernising, acquiring advanced platforms, and integrating disruptive technologies to maintain peace and effectively counter these evolving threats.

Rear Admiral Jawad Ahmed elaborated on the importance of strategic communication and the adoption of cutting-edge technologies to address new warfare domains, such as cyber and information warfare, that are reshaping today’s security landscape.

Maj Gen Syed Shahab Shahid (Retd), Director General for Arms Control and Disarmament Affairs, reiterated Pakistan’s unwavering readiness to meet future challenges and safeguard regional stability. He stressed that the intersection of nuclear and maritime strategies is increasingly central to Pakistan’s defence posture.

Executive Director CISS, Ali Sarwar Naqvi, further emphasised that addressing the complex security environment in Asia-Pacific demands a coordinated, multi-institutional approach, with particular attention to the interplay between nuclear deterrence and maritime power.

Over the past several years, the Pakistan Navy has pursued an ambitious modernisation program. Recent initiatives include the construction of the country’s first indigenously designed frigate-sized warships, known as the "Jinnah Class Frigates," which are intended to support operations across the full spectrum of naval threats—surface, submarine, and aerial.

Additional acquisitions include Chinese Type 054 A/P frigates, Turkish MILGEM Class corvettes, and Romanian offshore patrol vessels, bolstering both defensive and offensive maritime capabilities. A core facet of this modernisation is indigenisation, with a strategic focus on self-reliance and local technical solutions to mitigate foreign dependency.

Collaborative maritime security remains a key pillar of Pakistan’s approach, as demonstrated by initiatives like the multinational AMAN naval exercise series. These exercises, which have grown to include more than 50 nations, reinforce Pakistan’s commitment to peace, regional maritime security, and enhanced interoperability among regional and extra-regional navies.

The Pakistan Navy’s strategic role in exercises such as the Regional Maritime Security Patrol also projects the country’s diplomatic posture, aiming to deter aggression and prevent escalation in a sensitive regional context.

Strategic experts at the conference highlighted that Pakistan’s evolving sea-based deterrence, including credible second-strike capability through platforms like the Babur-III submarine-launched cruise missile, is vital for maintaining deterrence stability against regional adversaries and offsetting conventional imbalances.

This focus on maritime deterrence addresses both nuclear survivability and flexibility and supports broader efforts toward regional arms control and crisis stability.

In parallel, the National Security Policy (NSP) of Pakistan explicitly calls for integrated security strategies spanning all modern domains of warfare. The NSP reiterates the necessity for credible minimum deterrence, whole-of-nation approaches to counter hybrid warfare—including cyber and information operations—and investments in local technological capacity to secure national sovereignty without entering into an arms race.

In conclusion, Pakistan’s current defence and foreign policy direction acknowledges the indivisibility of nuclear and maritime domains in its security strategy. Senior officials are steering the country toward holistic, multi-domain security strategies, robust naval modernisation, and proactive regional engagement to deter emerging threats and uphold regional stability.

Based On A PTI Report