Last year Pakistan successfully struck a deal with China according to which the Chinese military giant will provide Pakistan with eight Stealth Attack Submarines. This was disclosed by senior naval officers in a briefing to National Assembly’s Standing Committee.
The deal is estimated to be of more than $4 billion and it is expected that part of the amount will be provided as loan through Chinese financial institutions. Though the details of the submarines are not provided but there are reports that upto 4 submarines will be constructed by Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works (KSEW) with assistance from Chinese companies.
Pakistan is also upgrading the capabilities of the current submarines, recently a deal was done with Turkish state owned contractor STM which will upgrade Khalid submarines of Pakistan.
Pakistan’s rival India is far ahead in naval capabilities, Indian navy has two 2 aircraft carrier while Pakistan has none. The numbers of submarines are also in favour of India which has 14 submarines while Pakistan has only 8.