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| Karachi port and harbour (Image: Wikipedia) |
By Ankit Panda
Four of China’s eight Yuan-class submarines for Pakistan will be built in Karachi.
Earlier this year, Pakistan and China concluded a deal for Islamabad to purchase eight modified Type 41 Yuan-class diesel-electric attack submarines from China (export designation is the S20, which excludes the air-independent propulsion system). Specifics about the deal have been slow to emerge, but today Dawn, a major Pakistani newspaper, reports that China will build four of the eight submarines it is selling to Pakistan in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city and most important port city on the Arabian Sea.
Pakistan’s minister for defense production, Rana Tanveer Hussain, announced the arrangement at the inauguration of Pakistan’s Defense Export Promotion Organization (DEPO) Displayer Center in Islamabad. The announcement is significant because it confirms that China will transfer technology for the construction of the S20 submarines to Pakistan. Furthermore, according to Hussain’s comments, construction on the submarines will begin simultaneously in both countries. The Pakistan minister did not indicate a time frame for the start of construction.
Read the full story at The Diplomat