With the Indian Navy going through a massive modernisation phase, Pakistan has accelerated its efforts to have one of Asia’s largest naval fleets by increasing its surface fleet to 50 warships and its subsurface fleet to 11 submarines.
Pakistan’s defence establishment is rattled as the India’s only port operated by the Indian Navy is coming up fast and is expected to become the largest naval base east of the Suez Canal.
Twenty of the 50 surface ships that the Pakistan Navy hopes to deploy are anticipated to be “major surface vessels,” such as corvettes and frigates.
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The main motive of this move by Pakistan is to achieve some parity with the Indian Navy, whose sphere of influence stretches from Malacca Strait in the east to the Gulf of Aden in the west.
The Pakistan Navy is a significant regional naval power in the Indian subcontinent, even though its