Key Points:

• Cooperation between naval special operations forces is a key feature of Pak-Turk naval relations.
• Pakistan continues to view its domestic and surrounding interests from a land-centric lens at the long-term cost of sea blindness and eventual domination by a hegemonic Indian Navy patronised by the US and Japan.
• India’s diplomatic understandings with Indian Ocean countries including Arab Gulf countries are shifting the balance of power to Washington and New Delhi’s favour, impacting not only security dynamics but overall commercial shipping.
• Turkey’s naval partnership with Pakistan in the Western Indian Ocean will complement its strategic engagement in East Africa while ensuring freedom of navigation and uninterrupted commercial maritime traffic to and from the Mediterranean.