Pakistan gifts old Subs to Bangladesh?

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adeptitus

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Pakistan to gift old submarines to Bangladesh Navy

Josy Joseph
Friday, June 02, 2006 23:14 IST

The Pakistan gift would provide the Bangladesh Navy its first underwater capabilties.

NEW DELHI: In a strategic decision that Indian policy planners are trying to comprehend, Pakistan has agreed to gift two of its old submarines to Bangladesh Navy.

Authoritative sources in the establishment told DNA that Pakistani authorities agreed to the gift when Bangladesh Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia visited Pakistan from February 12 to 14 earlier this year.

Pakistani authorities would refurbish and refit two of its old submarines for the Bangladesh Navy under the agreement.

The Pakistan gift would provide the Bangladesh Navy its first underwater capabilities. This raises several questions regarding Bangladesh’s strategic planning and forecast for the region.

As the information begin to trickle down to policy makers here, the new strength of Bangladeshi Navy is bewildering them. But they admit that they will have to ingrain Dhaka’s new strength into Indian strategic plans.

Sources said Pakistan would be refurbishing two of its Daphne class submarines, which are being decommissioned presently, and give it to Bangladesh Navy. Pakistan Navy had acquired four Daphne class submarined from France in 1969-70.

The Daphne class submarine PNS Hangor, which sunk Indian naval ship Khukri during 1971 war, was decommisioned on January 2, 2006 and is reportedly being converted into a museum ship.

Sources said the the two-submarine deal was the high point of Bangaldesh Prime Minister's visit to Pakistan. The deal was kept under wraps, but New Delhi now has authoritative information through its intelligence channels about Pakistan's strategic move.

Pakistan Navy has a small submarine arm and is presently in the process of inducting Agosta-90B submarines from France.

Sources watching Bangladesh are mystified by the move, given its small navy of just over 10,000 personnel. The Bangladesh Navy is limited mostly to coastal patrolling and is getting a modern frigate built in South Korea.

Indian efforts to woo the Bangladesh Navy, with a possible gift of a ship, has not gone too far. Indian Navy chief Admiral Arun Prakash had undertaken a visit to Bangladesh in December, and had made several offers including training for its personnel in Indian facilities and assistance on various other fronts.
 
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PakTopGun

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Why not.. it would give this sandwiched nation(bangladesh) a minimal chance to maintain its supply lines to Dacca & Chittagong(main ports-economy) open in the advent of war or economic blockade, which at the current time it cannot due at all. Due to Indian armed forces rapid enlargement over the years, its no wonder that many nations in South Asia(Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal) are looking to Pakistan for arms and military relations rather than submit to Indian enticement. You will also see these countries forced to build up their armed forces in response to the military buildup occuring in India and valuable $$$ needed for development spent elsewhere just to maintain a credible deterrence. And so, the arms race continues and adds new variables as it progresses.
 
crazyinsane105

crazyinsane105

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Arcticle is false. Three out of the four Daphne subs will be scrapped while the other one will be kept (PNS Hangor). As usual, it's just media spreading false rumors.
 
Indianfighter

Indianfighter

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PakTopGun said:
Due to Indian armed forces rapid enlargement over the years, its no wonder that many nations in South Asia(Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal) are looking to Pakistan for arms and military relations rather than submit to Indian enticement.
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The above statement is inaccurate. Only Bangladesh purchases arms from Pakistan. Nepalese armymen serve in the Indian army, and India is the main provider of arms to Nepal. India does not export arms to Sri-Lanka because of the LTTE's assasination of former Indian PM (because Indian soldiers destroyed many major bases of the LTTE in Sri-Lanka, and pushed them northward on his orders). This perennial fear makes India non-commital to the peace-process in Sr-Lanka.

Country-wise arms purchases of Sri-Lanka may be referenced from the following URL:
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According to it, Pakistan is a supplier to the LTTE.

Anyway, Pakdef has proven the news of Banladesh purchasing the submarines from Pakistan as false as the submarines in questio shall be scrapped and one may be refitted as mentioned by crazyinsane105.
 
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PakTopGun

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Indianfighter said:
The above statement is inaccurate. Only Bangladesh purchases arms from Pakistan. Nepalese armymen serve in the Indian army, and India is the main provider of arms to Nepal. India does not export arms to Sri-Lanka because of the LTTE's assasination of former Indian PM (because Indian soldiers destroyed many major bases of the LTTE in Sri-Lanka, and pushed them northward on his orders). This perennial fear makes India non-commital to the peace-process in Sr-Lanka.

Country-wise arms purchases of Sri-Lanka may be referenced from the following URL:
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!


According to it, Pakistan is a supplier to the LTTE.
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well Im not sure about the Sub deal as it seems like a rumour at this time but Bangladesh has been a recipient for Pakistani arms for quite a while now. Also, a few years back India and the UK stopped selling arms to Nepal at which point Pakistan was asked by the Nepalese Govt. and obliged them stepping in now as a supplier of arms to Nepal. Your point on the LTTE sounds rather concocted as for many years now, it is well known that many of the Tamil rebel groups in Sri Lanka were trained and assisted by Indian Inteligence(RAW) many times in training camps in the Tamil Nadu state of southern India until the LTTE decided to remove the non-Sri Lankan(Tamil) community from their struggle who were in cohoots with RAW and not necessarily the cause of the LTTE. Plus Pakistan has always had great relations with the Singalese-led government of Sri Lanka with whom it sells arms which are used to fight the LTTE with and these have recently improved moreso since 2001 with defense cooperation b/w the two countries. In regards to the Afghan pipeline of arms, it is quite frankly 'Afghan' in nature whereby Afghan warlords sell old arms to build up funds by using Pakistan as the store front and often sells to criminals within Pakistan too(i.e. this has nothing to do with Pakistani government!) Further to that, there is a large Buddhist Singhalese dispora that lives in Pakistan(Karachi), thus making your last statement innaccurate and ill-founded.:coffee:
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Indianfighter

Indianfighter

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Also, a few years back India and the UK stopped selling arms to Nepal at which point Pakistan was asked by the Nepalese Govt. and obliged them stepping in now as a supplier of arms to Nepal.
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India, UK and USA stopped selling ams to Nepal when its monarch suspended democracy and assumed all power. Rest assured, there are 4-5 Nepali regiments in the Indian army, the Nepali army uses Indian Dhruv helicopters and all of the Royal Nepalese Army uses Indian INSAS rifles and other weaponry sold to Nepal at discounted rates.

Your point on the LTTE sounds rather concocted as for many years now, it is well known that many of the Tamil rebel groups in Sri Lanka were trained and assisted by Indian Inteligence(RAW) many times in training camps in the Tamil Nadu state of southern India until the LTTE decided to remove the non-Sri Lankan(Tamil) community from their struggle who were in cohoots with RAW and not necessarily the cause of the LTTE.
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The above charge was publicly brought to the fore by the Jain commission of the Government of India itself, that the RAW was training LTTE cadres. It is then (after international humiliation) that Indian troops were dispatched to Sri-Lanka to fight the LTTE alongside Sri-Lankan forces.

A few hundred Indian soldiers died fighting the LTTE. They pushed them to the fringes of northern and north-eastern Sri-Lanka.

The relations between India and Sri-Lanka have improved significanly since then and improved further after the signing of a free-trade agreement and India becoming one of the largest donors of aid to Sri-Lanka after the tsunami. The reason why India does not sell arms to Sri-Lanka or negotiate between Sri-Lankan government and LTTE was given by me earlier.
Further to that, there is a large Buddhist Singhalese dispora that lives in Pakistan(Karachi), thus making your last statement innaccurate and ill-founded.:coffee:
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Buddhism was founded in India and was spread to Sri-Lanka by Indians. India and Sri-Lanka share cultural ties since the past 2.5 millenia. Besides, its "Sinhalese" and not "Singhalese" as pronounced by you.
 
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Gollevainen

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OK lets stop this "which country sold weapons to whom" depate before it gets overline. And keep India out of this discussion, it got nothing to do with it

Gollevainen
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PakTopGun

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I agree Gollevainen, but much of these deals b/w Pakistan and the other nations are occuring as a result of the arms build-up by that country, but I know what your angle is so I'll oblige:)

Indianfighter said:
Buddhism was founded in India and was spread to Sri-Lanka by Indians. India and Sri-Lanka share cultural ties since the past 2.5 millenia. Besides, its "Sinhalese" and not "Singhalese" as pronounced by you.
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oops-my bad, even still, with their spelling of Sinhalese the question was not answered, there is a huge dispora here in Pakistan as well as a few moorish Tamil(Muslims) who were also expelled by the LTTE, quite some distance from Sri Lanka isnt it?, why didnt they go to the country a few kms from them with whom they've shared cultural ties historically..?mmm makes u think ..they feared for their lifes and would be maltreated(at least thats what many of the 'Sinhalese' here say? There is also a huge Bangladeshi diaspora here(many of whom came in the 80's) and Pakistan is helping to train a few Bengali and recently Sri Lankan regiments in its Kakul facilities. Anyhow, no-one is challenging the cultural ties but Sri Lanka and Bangladesh for that matter have had distinct histories as well which should not be negated and simply brushed up into a plainly 'Indian-only' specific history. Pakistan was also home to one of the first Buddhist empires a derivative of the original buddhism, greek philosophy and local trading culture and it was from Pakistan that Buddhism(the Mahayama/tantric branches-locally indigenous forms of Buddhism concieved in Swat and Taxilla/Attock specifically) where developed and exported via the Silk route to Central Asia, China, Korea and then Japan (just a lil history lesson:) ) Anyhow, the unnecessary buildup of arms by India is destabilizing the region and will force other nations to work together and assist each other militarily(even Burma is looking to Pakistan now while Bangladesh is set to inherit old F-7's) to maintain a credible defense and balance in the area while preventing them from feeling a sense of being dominated + further straining their resources which need to be spent on human/social development 'n infrastructure. such a pitty.:(
 
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FreeAsia2000

Junior Member
I think the chances for war between all parties is declining provided
they are able to maintain minimal defense because the economic and
political cost to all parties of such a war is increasing.

Obviously if you have very little infrastructure then you don't lose much
in a war.

As regards the rest of South Asia travel and martial as well as marital :)
links between the countries are increasing and the countries seem to be
approaching the situation between the Western European countries in
the mid-1800's without the imperialist colonies which caused so many
wars between them.

In sum whilst their is a lot of swaggering round I don't think there is any
appetite for war
 
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