China has officially confirmed the sale of 8 attack submarines to Pakistan may be deployed in the Arabian Sea and challenge India’s interests in the Indian Ocean Region.
Talks for the deal, estimated at more than $5 billion, were announced from Islamabad earlier this year, but China was yet to confirm it. The China Shipbuilding Heavy Industry held a meeting on October 12 to confirm details of the deal, attended by its chairman Hu Wenming.
China is expected to deliver the first four submarines by 2023 while the others will be completed by 2028. All the submarines will be fitted with air-independent propulsion (AIP) systems. Four of the submarines are to be built at the Karachi shipyard, with the rest in China.
China, which is Pakistan’s largest supplier of military hardware, is expected to provide a long-term loan at a low interest rate for the submarine deal worth between $4 billion and $5 billion.
