China accelerates arms deal with Islamabad, builds advanced warship for Pak Navy

China, on August 23, launched an advanced naval warship that it was building for Pakistan as part of an arms deal signed between the two allies in 2017. According to reports, the Type-054 A/P Frigate was unveiled for the Pakistan Navy at the Hudong Zhonghua shipyard in Shanghai. The warship is the first of the four being built by China for Pakistan under the 2017 agreement that was renewed in 2019.

Pakistan had initially signed a deal with the China Shipbuilding Trading Company Ltd. for two warships but in 2019 the agreement was updated to deliver two more. The price of the ships being delivered by China to Pakistan was not revealed but all four units are expected to be delivered by 2021. The keel-laying ceremony of the second ship was held in March this year, which was attended by dignitaries from Pakistan Navy. 

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As per reports, the warship is an upgraded version of the Chinese Type-054 Frigate and was first deployed by the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) in 2007. The launching of the ship came in the backdrop of Pakistan's foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi holding strategic dialogue with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in China's Hainan province on August 21. During the meeting, Qureshi reportedly discussed the ambitious China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project among other things during the talks. After the meeting, Qureshi said that the pace of implementation of the project would increase in the coming months, which he claims would benefit the region. 

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China-Pakistan relations

As per Pakistan's state-run media, Prime Minister Imran Khan on August 24 said that strengthening business-to-business ties would be the "highest priority" of his government. Khan's remark came while he was addressing a delegation of leading Chinese companies looking to invest in the economically-hit country. Pakistan is China's main ally in the region as it often uses the country to forward its sinister interests against India, which it sees as a strategic threat to its growing ambitions in the world. One example would be the CPEC project that was at the table of the recent talks held between Pakistan and China's foreign ministers. New Delhi objects the construction of the $60 billion projects because it violates India's sovereignty as the corridor passes through the disputed Kashmir region currently occupied by Islamabad.

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(Image Credit: AP)