President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in their separate messages on Pakistan Navy Day being observed on September 8 (today), paid tribute to the officers, sailors and civilian personnel of the Pakistan Navy and also commemorated the force’s “determination, courage and professional excellence” over the decades.

President Zardari in a special statement on the occasion mentioned daring Operation Somnath by the Navy against the Indian naval coastal station at Dwarka on the nite of 7/8 September 1965.

He characterized it as a defining moment that “laid the foundations of a formidable force” and showed the boldness and perseverance that continue to define the Pakistan Navy today.

That same mentality, the president said, had been carried on into more recent operations. He pointed to the Navy’s role in Marka-e-Haq in May 2025 when the force helped defend Pakistan’s maritime interests by maintaining operational readiness and advance deployments that deterred the numerically bigger Indian Navy from jeopardizing the country’s maritime security.

He also alluded to Operation Muhafiz-ul-Bahr, launched during the continuing crisis in the Middle East, through which the Navy strove to defend Pakistan’s energy security and economic lifelines by assuring a continued flow of sea-borne oil supplies.

“The Navy’s continued modernization drive is evident from the induction of new warships, Hangor-class submarines, jet aircraft, unmanned systems and indigenously developed long-range missiles to keep it a contemporary and potent maritime force,” President Zardari said.

Besides its defense function, the president mentioned the Navy’s involvement in maritime diplomacy, referring to the multinational Exercise Aman and the linked Aman Dialog, held under the banner of “Together for Peace,” as forums for regional and international collaboration.

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif paid rich honors to the martyrs, veterans and serving Pakistan Navy personnel who had offered tremendous services and continued to do so, with their courage, sacrifices and devotion to duty in the defense of our nation.

Prime minister expressed his sincere felicitations to the officers, sailors and civilians of Pakistan Navy and their families.

He said the 8th September was an inspiring reminder of the fortitude, valor and tenacity shown by the Pakistan Navy during the 1965 conflict.

On this day Pakistan Navy executed renowned Operation SOMNATH on Indian Naval Station, Dwarka. Our warships struck with precise precision against a strongly equipped and larger adversary and damaged important shore installations of the enemy and established psychological supremacy at sea. Our submarine ‘GHAZI’ presence in Indian Ocean paralyzed the enemy movements further writing a golden chapter in the history of naval warfare, he added.

The prime minister at Marka-e-Haq 2025 said Pakistan Navy exhibited the same spirit and operational preparedness which kept a numerically superior enemy from performing any act of aggression at sea.

He said that in the present day strategic scenario the responsibilities of our Navy have multiplied many times over.

Besides traditional security, he said Pakistan Navy actively projected soft power around the globe. Initiatives like Exercise AMAN and AMAN Dialog were aimed at bringing together the international Naval community under the banner, ‘Together for Peace’. Similarly, Pakistan Navy enjoys strong good-will in the region through operational and technical engagements, maritime industrial linkages, mutual training exchanges and maritime diplomacy.