http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8457/7997943092_8675616ed7_b.jpgChina to Sell Bangladesh 2 Submarines
Bangladesh has finalized a deal to purchase two Ming-class submarines from China, according to a report in the local New Age newspaper.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina first announced that the country was interested in purchasing submarines back in January, as part of a broader plan to modernize its military. At the time, she did not specify which country Bangladesh would be purchasing the submarines from, but military officials told media outlets that it was in negotiations with China.
The New Age report said that the deal, which is waiting for final approval from the Finance Ministry, for the two submarines was worth $203.3 million. It would be paid by Bangladesh during the fiscal year 2017-2018, with the submarines being delivered in 2019. Seventeen Bangladeshi sailors are being trained to operate the submarines, the report said, presumably in China.
The New Age report said that the Bangladesh Navy had purchased land in Kutubdia Island where it planned to construct a submarine base.
Ming-class submarines (Type 035) are diesel-electric powered submarines based off of the Romeo-class submarines that the Soviet Union built in the 1950s. The Ming-class submarines, however, feature a number of improvements over the obsolete Soviet models. The specific variant that Bangladesh is purchasing, Type 035G, is the most recent and last Ming-class submarine. China built six of them between 1997 and 2001, according toGlobal Security.
Hasina has made building a “three dimensional navy” a top priority for the country. In January she declared: “We will build a modern three-dimensional navy for future generations which will be capable of facing any challenge during a war on our maritime boundary.”
Bangladesh’s decision to purchase the submarines from China is unsurprising as Dhaka has long relied heavily on Beijing for military equipment. In 2012, it was the second largest market for Chinese arms exports behind Pakistan.
Still, the move has deeply unsettled Bangladesh’s neighbor India, who is concerned about Chinese influence in South Asia and the Indian Ocean. News of the submarine negotiations between Bangladesh and China had already led India’s Eastern Naval Command to seek a larger presence in the Bay of Bengal, The Times of Indiareported earlier this month.
The newspaper quoted a senior Indian defense official as saying:
“Why would Bangladesh need submarines? This decision by the government there and the ongoing strife in the country is a matter of concern for us. We also suspect that Chinese submarines are sneaking into Indian territorial waters in the Bay of Bengal region, though none has been detected as yet. This is reason enough for greater naval presence in the region. At the moment, India isn’t really prepared for any conflict in the Bay of Bengal region near West Bengal due to the lack of adequate infrastructure.”
The report went on to describe a number of infrastructure upgrades India’s Navy is making in the area, primarily land it is looking into purchasing on Sagar Island. These include building a new port. Also in West Bengal, India is constructing a Unmanned Aerial Vehicle base in the city of Kolkata.
Bangladesh has long-standing maritime border disputes with India and Burma in the Bay of Bengal. The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea International Court decided the Bangladesh-Burmese dispute in Dhaka’s favor last year.
Meanwhile, in 2009 Bangladesh instituted proceedings against India over the dispute in the UN’s Permanent Court of Arbitration. The hearing took place this month, from December 9th through December 18th. A decision is expected sometime next year.
COMMENTS
7
Zimmermann
December 24, 2013 at 15:11
China is not looking for a military conflict with India. It will instead invade India with consumer goods. The Indian market place will be flooded with Chinese toys, textile, clothes, electrical and electronic goods, computers, smart phones, cars, motor bikes, furniture, tools, machinery, etc. instead of worrying about the submarines, the Indians ought to think of what to export to China.
R.G.
December 24, 2013 at 12:52
Those two subs will tie up at least two of India’s surface assets in monitoring & tracking them. Also, with the Mings in the area, Indian navy is gonna have a trying time to determine whether they are Bangladesh’s or China’s vessel. Smart move on China.
applesauce
December 23, 2013 at 08:44
it is odd that they would purchase an old, obsolete/near obsolete sub such as the ming class when there are much more modern classes available from the same source, namely the song and yuan classes.
this leads me to believe two things.
one. all of the mings in china will soon be decommissioned and there fore china will simply move the factories/tools to bangladesh in addition to the sales of the last of the mings directly.
two. the entire deal for 200 million must include tons of extras such as the factory/tools i mention and training, weapons, ToT
TDog
December 23, 2013 at 06:55
India really doesn’t have too much to worry about. The Ming is a pretty old design and even with upgrades is unlikely to cause too much trouble.
blitzkrieg
December 23, 2013 at 12:23
That’s not true. All it takes is one unobserved sub, either through the enemy’s successful employment of stealth and careful concealment or sheer negligence and lack of training of the sonar crew on the friendly part, to spell doom for an AC. That one sub will be detected after the first round of 2 torpedoes and can get off at least another salvo before being sunk. That’s 4 torpedoes against one big AC. The result being, of course, an immobilized carrier and the entire escort group must now either abandon her or stay behind and get sunk by enemy naval air. Good bye $10 B.
Even if the chance of this scenario playing out is remote, the mere possibility of this happening will make any admiral nervous. It’s quite literally like walking into a mine field.
Mazo
December 24, 2013 at 01:45
LOL India isn’t worried about the Bangladesh Navy or indeed its 2 submarines launching a military campaign or harassing Indian shipping in the Bay of Bengal.
India’s concern is China’s influence and inroads into the Bay of Bengal – particularly submarines. Since the 1990s, the Indian Navy has been paranoid about Chinese submarines in the Bay of Bengal.
TDog
December 24, 2013 at 18:38
If India is so worried about a submarine sale signalling a Chinese encroachment into their neighborhood, why don’t they sell Bangladesh diesel submarines of their own and head the Chinese off?
Oh wait… India has no domestically produced diesel submarines… never mind.
http://thediplomat.com/2013/12/china-to-sell-bangladesh-2-submarines/