New Delhi: Chief of Navy Staff Admiral Dinesh K. Tripathi said Monday that it was surprising how Pakistan still had funds for its armed forces despite “begging” for international assistance. He also referred to China’s navy being the largest in the world. The admiral’s comments come just a day before Pakistan is set to host the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit.
“More than a cause for concern, it is surprising how an economy which is faltering and begging for international assistance could muster the funds for ensuring that their armed forces are modernised,” he said in an interview with news agency ANI.
His comments come one day ahead of the start of the 2024 summit of the SCO, an intergovernmental organisation, in Pakistan’s capital of Islamabad. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is expected to represent India. It will mark the first visit to the country by an Indian foreign minister since 2015.
Adding that the Indian Navy was keeping track of the Pakistan Navy and the kind of weapons and platforms it was getting from its different sources, Admiral Tripathi said that India had a strategy in place to ensure that, along with the national maritime interests, the maritime security of the region was also not compromised.
Speaking in the context of Pakistan expanding its military capabilities through major arms procurements from China, he said, “As far as China is concerned, you are fully aware that it has become the largest navy in terms of numbers.”
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s (SIPRI) arms transfer data, Pakistan’s arms imports increased by more than 43 percent between 2014–2018 and 2019–2023.
Pakistan was the fifth largest arms importer in the world in 2019–2023 with China’s dominance as its main supplier growing. China was providing 82 percent of its arms imports by 2019-2023. According to reports, Pakistan has purchased various defence items from China, including fighter jets, warships and drones as well as missile technology.
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Procurement from China
This year alone, Pakistan and China have announced several military development projects and acquisitions.
In January, Pakistan’s chief of air staff, Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu, announced the country’s plans to procure the Chinese FC-31 Gyrfalcon fifth-generation fighter, which senior PAF commanders had said at the time would give it a significant edge over India in terms of aerial combat.
The Pakistan Navy also got its first spy ship, PNS Rizwan, from China earlier this year, as reported by ThePrint in March. The spy ship is an answer to India’s INS Dhruv, which has capabilities to track satellite and ballistic nuclear missiles. With the addition, Pakistan joined an elite list of countries that operate these ships, including India, France, the US, the UK, Russia and China.
Then, in April, China launched the first of the eight Hangor-class submarines to be built by Pakistan, often directly compared with the Indian Navy’s Kalvari-class submarines, though much larger. In September, the US imposed sanctions on a Chinese research institute and several other companies for their involvement in Pakistan’s ballistic missile programme.
China and Pakistan are together also manufacturing the JF-17 multirole fighter jets, which are in service with the Pakistan Air Force. And, in 2018, Pakistan received a powerful missile tracking system from China, media reports said.
In light of the country’s increasing number of procurements, The Express Tribune reported on 4 October that Pakistan’s government had approved an additional PKR 45 billion for the armed forces to better protect Chinese commercial interests in the country and install fencing along its international border. Over the past few years, Chinese nationals and projects have come under attack several times. Last week, two Chinese nationals were killed in an explosion in Karachi.
China has also invested heavily in the cash-strapped country to build the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), under its Belt and Road Initiative.
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)