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Chinese say Beijing-Islamabad submarine deal will shake Indian Ocean. ‘Modi unable to sleep’

China has been using Pakistan as a proxy in the regional balance against India, with Pakistani narratives also amplified in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor.

Pakistan’s high-level visits to China are typically rich in optics, carefully choreographed to project the strength of an all-weather partnership. Yet Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari’s week-long visit departed from this familiar script.

The visit, from 25 April to 1 May, was unusually subdued, drawing little media attention at first. The low-key tone reflected China’s somewhat quiet delivery of the first S26P (Kirin/Hangor-class) conventional submarine to Pakistan. Zardari, accompanied by Pakistan Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Naveed Ashraf, visited a naval port in Sanya to receive the vessel. The submarine is part of an eight-boat agreement signed in 2015, valued at around $5 billion and structured under a 4 4 model, with four submarines built in China and four in Pakistan under a technology transfer arrangement. 

The S26P is expected to feature air-independent propulsion (AIP) to enhance underwater endurance and is reported to be capable of carrying torpedoes, anti-ship missiles, and the Babur-3 submarine-launched cruise missile, reinforcing Pakistan’s sea-based deterrence posture.

A Chinese commentator notes that the name “Hangor” references a Pakistani submarine credited with sinking India’s INS Khukri in 1971. Pakistan’s current submarine fleet mainly consists of upgraded French-built........

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