The last time Pakistan operated a submarine in the Bay of Bengal, during the 1971 war with India, it was destroyed. The South Asian nation did not possess the means to venture back into the strategic waters for more than half a century. That changed a few weeks ago.
Last month, Pakistan brought home a new attack submarine from China. The navy had commissioned the PNS Hangor in April and the submarine, the first of eight of its class to be inducted, sailed into the Karachi port on 11 June and was feted with the beating of drums and the sounding of trumpets.
