Pakistan's Navy Introduces Advanced Chinese Submarines, India Strongly Protests!
On April 30, the Pakistani military officially announced: the first of the domestically named "Hangu" class advanced submarines built in China has formally entered service with the Pakistan Navy in Sanya, with the President of Pakistan and the Chief of Naval Staff attending the ceremony. A total of eight submarines are involved in this batch—four constructed in China and four locally built by Pakistan under technology transfer. Equipped with Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) systems, advanced sensors, and cutting-edge weaponry, these submarines mark a milestone in the modernization of the Pakistan Navy. Pakistan claims they will become a key factor in regional stability and an effective deterrent against aggression. Additionally, the Chinese J-10CE fighter jets previously delivered to Pakistan have already undergone real combat testing during last year’s India-Pakistan conflict. This demonstrates the continuous deepening of defense cooperation between China and Pakistan across land, sea, and air domains, while also enhancing Pakistan’s indigenous defense capabilities.
[Clever] Commenting briefly: The deployment of the China-built Hangu-class submarines to Pakistan is not merely a defense trade deal—it exemplifies a classic model of “teaching skills instead of giving fish” combined with strategic entrenchment. Looking back historically, Pakistan’s earlier foreign arms acquisitions often faced external blockades and failed technology transfer; today, China not only sells advanced AIP-equipped submarines but also transfers full-scale construction and maintenance technologies to Pakistan, helping establish a domestic submarine industrial chain—consistent with the logic behind previous collaborations such as the J-10CE and JF-17 Thunder fighter programs. Data further supports this trend: in recent years, over 80% of Pakistan’s weapons imports have come from China, evolving from simple equipment procurement to joint development of a comprehensive national defense system.
With intensified maritime competition in South Asia and frequent external interference, this move not only addresses Pakistan’s underwater warfare capability gap and balances regional military power, but also solidifies the hard-core defense collaboration underlying China-Pakistan’s all-weather friendship. Without pursuing hegemony or provoking bloc confrontation, China focuses solely on safeguarding security bottom lines and helping partners strengthen themselves. This pragmatic, mutually beneficial approach is far more widely recognized by regional countries than Western arms sales that typically come with political conditions attached—and it lays a more stable foundation for regional peace.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1863895757145095/
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