Islamabad: Pakistan has adopted a
comprehensive strategy to increase, upgrade and strengthen its
naval fleet to face the challenges of terrorism, piracy and
illegal activities at sea, country`s naval chief Admiral Noman
Bashir has said.
As part of this strategy, the Pakistan Navy is
acquiring news ships, increasing its sea surveillance
capability, improving and upgrading its submarine operations
and strengthening its coastal patrolling capability, he said.
The Navy has acquired two new F-22 type frigates from
China and a third vessel of the same class will be
commissioned in two to three months while a fourth one is
being built in collaboration with Chinese firms at the Karachi
shipyard, Bashir told journalists on the sidelines of the
Defence Services Asia exhibition in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Besides, used ships could be acquired with the
objective of deploying them in the near future, he said.
Pakistan Navy is reinforcing its naval aviation wing
by acquiring long-range maritime patrol aircraft. Two US-made
aircraft had been acquired while two more will arrive later.
Their commissioning by the Navy will strengthen its
capability to survey large areas in its area of
responsibility, Bashir said.
The navy is also pursuing a programme to upgrade and
modernise its exiting submarine fleet, he said.
Pakistan is contributing significantly towards the
security of the energy corridor in the Persian Gulf that is
used for supplying oil from Gulf countries to Pakistan and the
rest of the world, Bashir said.
The Pakistan Navy currently heads the multinational
Naval Combined Task Force 150 that was established to monitor,
inspect, board and stop suspect shipping in order to counter
terrorism, human trafficking and smuggling of illegal drugs in
the Gulf of Oman, Arabian Sea and North Indian Sea.
The CTF consists of ships from Canada, Denmark,
France, Germany, Britain and the US.
PTI
