The third edition of the Sea Guardian-3 is being carried out in the Northern Arabian Sea

Current Context: The Sea Guardian-3 is the third and largest edition of the joint maritime exercise between China and Pakistan. It kicked off with an opening ceremony at the Karachi Naval Dockyard.

• The Sea Guardian-3 exercise was scheduled from November 11 to November 17, 2023.
• The exercise is dedicated to enhancing the all-weather strategic cooperative partnership, boosting defense cooperation, and deepening professional cooperation.
• The nine-day exercise in the waters and airspace of the northern Arabian Sea includes training courses such as formation maneuvering, VBSS (visit, board, search and seizure), helicopter cross-deck landing, joint search and rescue, joint anti-submarine and main gun shooting, plus professional exchanges and mutual visits.
• The participating forces from the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy include the Type 052D guided missile destroyer Zibo, the Type 054A guided missile destroyers Jingzhou and Linyi.
• A conventional attack submarine and a submarine support ship along with a marines corps detachment from the PLA Navy are also involved.
• The exercise aims to jointly respond to maritime security threats and safeguard maritime peace.

Question:

Q.1 What is the Sea Guardian-3?
a. A joint maritime exercise between India and China
b. A joint maritime exercise between China and Pakistan
c. A joint maritime exercise between India and Pakistan
d. A joint maritime exercise between China and Russia