KARACHI, February 13: Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif on Monday underlined the need for effective strategy to meet security challenges in Indian Ocean. Addressing the concluding session of the 7th International Maritime Conference in Karachi, the Defence Minister said that boost in international trade in the Indian Ocean has underlined need for an effective strategy to overcome security challenges. He said in modern times security of the Indian Ocean has become more important. He said there exists the challenges of pirates, human smuggling and other menaces in the Ocean. Khawaja Asif expressed satisfaction over the Multinational Naval Exercise Aman 2017 continuing in the Arabian Sea. The conference was organized by National Center for Maritime Policy Research (NCMPR) and Bahria University. -DNA
