Pakistan Navy (PN) successfully thwarted an attempt by an Indian submarine to enter Pakistan's territorial waters; however, Indian submarine was not targeted under Pakistan's 'peace policy'. The Navy spokesperson on Tuesday said that Pakistan Navy detected Indian submarine trying to intrude in Pakistan's territory on Monday night.
"The Pakistan Navy used its specialised skills to ward off the submarine, successfully keeping it away from entering Pakistani waters," a statement from the spokesperson said.
According to the naval sources, the Indian submarine was caught while taking surface update on the other side of territory. Pakistan Navy foiled its attempt to intrude into Pakistani waters, he added.
While talking to Business Recorder, he said that sometimes submarines have to come on the surface to charge the batteries or to update surface pictures. The submarines do not have to stay underwater all the time, he added.
The submarine was detected and localised in Pakistan's maritime zone on March 4, 2019, he maintained.
Without mentioning the name of Indian submarine, he said the detected submarine is one of the latest submarines of Indian Navy.
While replying to another question, he said the Indian submarine was probably tasked for intelligence gathering purpose while maintaining station inside Pakistan's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). If it had remained undetected, it would have been well-positioned to carry out aggressive actions against Pakistan's maritime assets in the case of open hostilities between the two countries, he added.
Pakistan Navy also captured its video when it came up to periscope depth; however, the PN was tracking it for a longer time with the assistance of aerial anti-submarine warfare assets.
According to a press release, the submarine is being kept under watch along with monitoring of other Indian Navy units.
The latest development comes after an increase in tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
"The Pakistan Navy is always ready to guard its territorial waters and is capable of responding to any kind of aggression with full force," said the Navy. "This great achievement has been a proof of Pakistan Navy's superior capabilities."
"The Indian submarine was not targeted keeping in view Pakistan's policy of peace," said a spokesperson from the PN and added that India must learn from this incident and "move towards peace."
This was the second occasion since November 2016 when the Pakistan Navy detected an Indian submarine trying to wade into Pakistani waters. Previously on November 14, 2016, Pakistan Navy caught Indian Navy submarine operating in Pakistani Exclusive Economic Zone.
"In order to maintain peace, the Indian submarine was not targeted which is a reflection of Pakistan's desire for peace," the statement said.
Pakistan Navy is capable of giving a jaw-breaking response to any aggression, the statement added.
The latest intrusion comes as tensions between India and Pakistan are at an all-time high, following Indian incursions into Pakistani airspace and subsequent downing of two Indian aircraft by Pakistan Air Force.
AFP adds: The navy also released a video of the submarine, with the grainy black and white footage showing only what appeared to be a periscope above water. The timestamp on the video clip shows it began at 8.35 pm on Monday. There was no immediate comment from Indian officials.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019

Comments

Comments are closed.