Procurement of 6 AIP submarines from China: Cabinet to approve Defence Ministry's proposal

The federal cabinet, which is scheduled to meet on Monday (today) with Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani in the chair, will approve a Defence Ministry's proposal for procurement of six Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) submarines worth billions of dollars from China, sources told Business Recorder.
According to documents available with this correspondent, Pakistan Navy is facing a critical imbalance in terms of submarines and ships vis-à-vis emerging threats. The decision has already been cleared by President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Gilani and the presentation of the summary to the cabinet is just a formality, the sources added. Analysts believe this would be a mega defence deal between the two countries subsequent to the JF 17-Thundar aircrafts for Pakistan Air Force.
As soon as the federal cabinet clears the summary a protocol for joint development and co-production of conventional AIP fitted submarines by Pakistan Navy (PN) and China Shipbuilding and Offshore Corporation Limited (SCOC) will be signed.
The cabinet will approve Companies (amendment) Bill 2011, which is pending since long.
The cabinet will review status of implementation of cabinet decisions pertaining to Sports, Statistics, States & Frontier Regions and Water & Power Divisions, in addition to ratification of the Economic Co-ordination Committee (ECC) decisions in its meeting held on March 1, 2011.
Finance Ministry will give presentation on Consumer Price Index (CPI) and discuss the trend of prices of essential commodities. Finance Minister, Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh will also brief the cabinet on progress on Pakistan Muslim League (N)'s 10-point agenda. He will also apprise the cabinet about talks with the IMF.
Other summaries which will be considered are as follows: (i) approval for the start negotiation on MoU for promotion of trade between Pakistan and Chile; (ii) approval for signing of MoU on strengthening technical cooperation and road transport activities between Pakistan and China; (iii) approval for signing of National Electronics Complex of Pakistan (NECOP) project sub-contract phase-I between Pakistan and China; (iv) signing of project on cooperation in the field of youth between Pakistan and Turkey; (v) approval, in principle, to start negotiations on the agreement for establishment of joint commission on economic cooperation between Pakistan and Ukraine;(vi) signing of agreement between United States of America and Pakistan for the grant of assistance under Pakistan Enhanced Partnership Agreement (PEPA);(vii) agreement of cooperation in the field of arts & creative studies between National College of Arts, Lahore and University of Visual & Performing Arts, Sri Lanka; (vii) approval, in principle, to enter into negotiations on an agreement between Russia and Pakistan on readmission; (viii) safe city Islamabad project; and (ix) ex-post facto approval for signing of MoU between Turkey, Afghanistan and Pakistan for cooperation in the field of disaster management.