Agnihotri, Kamlesh K

Abstract
In broad pursuance of the goals of China’s national defence in the new era, the People’s Liberation Army Navy has been mainly tasked with the defence of its maritime rights, interests and security, safeguarding its economic development and serving its peaceful diplomacy. The Chinese submarines figure prominently in their military strategy of “Active Defence.” The blistering pace of submarine modernisation, supporting infrastructure and intensive training regimen bear testimony to their centrality in the Chinese ‘Offshore Defence’ maritime thought process. With their nuclear attack submarines particularly capable of far-ranging missions of long durations, the United States as the predominantly present maritime power in the western and central Pacific Ocean will invariably stand to be affected. A real possibility of their deployment into the Indian Ocean in the medium to long term will also impact on the Indian maritime security scenario. Hence, it is prudent to carefully assess the Chinese nuclear submarine program.
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