Want China Times:
After a visit by a Chinese Type 039A Yuan-class diesel-electric submarine to the port of Karachi in Pakistan on May 22, the Times of India has said that the People’s Liberation Army Navy will eventually put five Type 094 Jin-class ballistic missile submarines equipped with JL-2 submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) into service.
While the Indian Navy possesses only 13 conventionally powered submarines, China already has 51 diesel-electric and five nuclear-powered submarines and will put five Type 094 Jin-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines into service in the near future, the report said. The threat posed by the JL-2 SLBM makes the Jin-class extremely dangerous to India’s national security, it said.
The visit by the Type 039A submarine to Karachi drew the attention of various Indian media outlets since Pakistan is both the country’s great rival and one of China’s closest allies. Pakistan is very likely to become the base for the PLA Navy to project its power in the Indian Ocean.
India Today, another English-language daily based in Noida, said that the Yuan-class submarine spent a week at Karachi for maintenance.
India will pay close attention to the activities of Chinese submarines in the region, Admiral Robin K Dhowan, the chief of India’s naval staff, said in an interview on May 28.
During the Cold War, NATO members worked together to monitor the movements of Soviet submarines in the Atlantic. Dhowan said now is the time for the Indian Navy to play a similar “great game” against China’s maritime expansion.
