Pakistani Nuclear Horn Spreads To The Sea (Dan 8)

CHINA TO SELL EIGHT ADVANCED SUBMARINES TO PAKISTAN, ENCIRCLING INDIA

by JOHN J. XENAKIS
4 Apr 2015

The naval arms race between India and Pakistan took a big leap forward this week, as Pakistan signed a deal to acquire eight advanced conventional (non-nuclear) diesel-powered submarines from China. Pakistan’s Ministry of Defense said that the eight submarines were being purchased from China to address the force imbalance with India, as India has been expanding its own fleet.

China and Pakistan are “all-weather” friends, and this is a particularly large military sale. Also, as a sign of Pakistan’s close relationship with China, this is the first time China has exported its submarines to anyone.

India has been expanding its fleet not just because of Pakistan, but because of China. China has been rapidly expanding its own fleet ( “28-Feb-15 World View — US Navy says that China now has more attack submarines than US”), and India claims that China has been “encircling” India with naval bases.

The Indians particularly point to the Gwadar Port on the Indian Ocean in Pakistan, which China has been developing. The port serves a dual purpose. On the one hand, it is a military naval base. But it is also a way for China to avoid maritime choke points in the Indian and Pacific oceans by moving Persian Gulf oil and gas over land from Gwadar to China.

China claims to have three principles in selling arms to other counts:

The arms must be for self-defense.

The weapons must not impair the peace, security and stability of the region.

The weapons sales must not interfere with the recipient nation’s internal affairs.

However, Western nations have accused China of repeatedly impairing the stability of the region, such as through the sales of advanced cruise missiles to Pakistan that began in the 1990s. Those accusations will certainly be renewed with China’s sale of this submarine fleet to Pakistan.

A few days ago, I reported on Pakistan’s close relationship with Saudi Arabia. As I have been saying for about ten years, Generational Dynamics predicts that the world is headed for a new “Clash of Civilizations” world war that will pit the West, India, Russia and Iran versus China, Pakistan and the Sunni Muslim countries.