China is reportedly building naval ships for Pakistan — which portends higher tensions with India

• Earlier this week, reports surfaced that a state-owned Chinese company, China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), had commenced plans to build four naval warships for Pakistan.
  
• While the Pakistani Navy reportedly needs the ships to secure shipping lanes, the deployment of the highly-advanced combat vessels will likely lead to increased military posturing in the Indian Ocean region.
  
• The move, which is a component of an arms trade deal between Pakistan and China, will upset not only India, but the US which is looking to the former to play a bigger role in ensuring peace and stability in the region.
  
• As China expands its defence operations in Pakistan, India will have no option but to keep bolstering its own capability in a bid to maintain its dominance in the Indian Ocean.

Officials in India’s external affairs ministry were in for rude shock earlier this week as reports surfaced that a state-owned Chinese company, China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), had commenced plans to build four naval warships and eventually export them to Pakistan.

It has been speculated that the ships are a version of China’s most advanced missile warships and will be equipped with air defence and submarine components. While the Pakistani Navy reportedly needs the ships to secure shipping lanes, the deployment of the highly-advanced combat vessels will likely lead to increased military posturing in the Indian Ocean region.

The move, which is a component of an arms trade deal between Pakistan and China, will upset not only India, but the US which is looking to the former to play a bigger role in ensuring peace and stability in the region. In September 2018, the US cut $300 million in military aid to Pakistan - a decision that was accurately expected to drive Pakistan further into China’s embrace.

As China expands its defence operations in Pakistan and subsequently strengthens its “all-weather” strategic partner’s military capabilities, India will have no option but to bolster its own capability not just in lieu of possible incursions from its Eastern neighbour but in a bid to maintain its dominance in the Indian Ocean.

On 19 December, the New York Times reported that China was manufacturing military equipment such as fighter aircrafts in Pakistan under the guise of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a $60 billion infrastructure initiative. The country was also said to have given Pakistan access to crucial satellite navigation technologies and taken control of the Gwadar seaport - an important point from which to access the Indian Ocean.

In response, both Pakistan and China have denied the fact that the CPEC has a military component. Either way, India will do its best to keep a watchful eye and prepare accordingly even as bilateral military ties with China look to be on the upswing.

In early December, India’s navy chief said that the country would add 56 warships and 6 submarines to its naval fleet as part of a 10-year plan - a likely deterrent to China. India is also banking on stronger ties with the Maldives to facilitate the sustained expansion of its military presence in the Indian Ocean and participating in a Quadrilateral Security Dialogue with Australia, Japan and the US to counter China’s ambitions in the Indo-Pacific region.


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