China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, one of two biggest shipbuilding conglomerates in China, confirmed that a project to export eight attack submarines to Pakistan has been initiated.
The corporation held a conference to discuss details of the arrangement, the China People’s Daily news site reported quoting China Shipbuilding Online.
There have been talks of the China-Pakistan cooperation on submarines in the past. Earlier in the year, Reuters reported the Pakistani prime minister saying how the submarine deal could be one of China’s biggest weapons sales.
The deal is estimated to be worth between $4 billion and $5 billion, according to reports. Four submarines would be built in China and four at Pakistan’s state-owned shipyard in Karachi.
The eight submarines to be acquired would augment Pakistan’s existing fleet of Agosta 90-B submarines.