India to hand over INS Sindhuvir to the Myanmar Navy

India will soon be delivering a kilo class submarine INS Sindhuvir to the Myanmar Navy, thus managing to checkmate CCP by not only giving a submarine but also training their sailors.

“This will be the first submarine of the Myanmar Navy and is in accordance with India’s vision of SAGAR – Security and Growth for All in the Region,” says the official spokesperson of Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Anurag Srivastava.

Key Highlights

• Both India and Myanmar (which is one of the strategic neighbours) share a 1,640-km border with the north-eastern states, including Manipur, Nagaland, and Mizoram, and also share 725 km India-Myanmar maritime boundary.

• The submarine which has the capability of staying underwater for almost 45 days will be used for training purposes by the Myanmar Navy.

• This diesel-electric Kilo Class submarine is being given through the Line of Credit (LOC), India has extended to help in enhancing the military capability of Myanmar.

• The sailors of the Myanmar Navy have been trained in underwater combat operations onboard INS Sindhuvir with the help of Indian Navy.

• INS Sindhuvir  is a Russian refitted submarine and is known for its noiseless operational capability. It had joined the Indian Navy in the 1980s and has been modernized since then by the Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL) in Vizag.

• Capable of carrying various types of weapons it has a displacement of 3,000 tonnes and has the capacity to carry 52 personnel. And can go to a depth of around 300 meters.

• Most importantly, permission has been taken from Russia before delivering the sub and an end-user agreement is in place.

• The military cooperation between the two countries has been growing. As part of an export deal worth USD 37.9 million between the countries which was inked in 2017, India last year delivered the first batch of Advanced Light Torpedo (TAL) `Shyena’ to Yangon.

• Since Myanmar also shares maritime borders with Bangladesh and Thailand, those two countries are watching too. India has regular maritime engagements with the navies in the region.

SOURCE: The Hindu, Financial Express

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