According to a statement released by the Inter-Service Public Relations (ISPR) wing of the Pakistan military, “Anti Submarine Unit intercepted and tracked latest Kalvari class Indian submarine on March 1.” The recent interception and tracking incident is the fourth of its nature in the last five years and a testament to the Pakistan Navy’s ability and competence.
The Kalvari submarine was designed by the French naval defense and energy company and is a diesel-electric attack submarine. Currently, the submarines are being manufactured in Mumbai by a public sector shipbuilder, Magazon Dock Shipbuilders Limited. The design of the Kalvari class submarine is based on the Scorpene-class submarines built by the French.
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According to the Andalou agency, a state-run news agency headquartered in Ankara, India currently has 16 submarines, whereas Pakistan only has 8. The Indian Navy has a fleet of 13 frigates compared to Pakistan, which only has nine frigates in its fleet.
Prior to this, the Pakistan Navy, on 4th March 2020, detected the Scorpène-class submarine INS Kalvari submarine 86 nautical miles off of Gwadar. In 2021 another Indian submarine was detected 176 miles south of Karachi. In a detailed statement, the ISPR, DG Gen Iftikhar, said that the Indian Navy deployed its submarine against Pakistan, and it had “ulterior motives.”
“However, yet again through continuous vigilance and professionalism, Pakistan Navy has foiled [the] Indian submarine’s attempt of entering into Pakistani waters,” he added.
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The United Nations Convention on Law of Sea (UNCLOS) does not allow a state to carry out maneuvers in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and in the continental shelf of another coastal state. An exclusive economic zone (EEZ) is an area of coastal water or seabed in which a sovereign state has special rights to explore and use marine resources. The EEZ cannot be entered without permission or prior notification from/to the country to which it belongs.
The area of Pakistan’s territorial waters is 12 nautical miles, while its seabed territory (EEZ) grew to 290,000 square kilometers in 2015.