India to deliver INS Sindhuvir Kilo-class submarine to Myanmar

New Delhi, April 8: The Indian Navy is arranging the INS Sindhuvir, a Soviet-built Project 877 (Kilo-class) submarine for handover to Myanmar Navy making it the first underwater arm of Myanmar.

 

 

According to the reports, the submarine’s repair was finalized this February in India. However, the terms of the handover of Myanmar’s first-ever submarine is unclear - Naypyidaw may either buy or lease the ship. Russia’s arms exporter company, Rosoboronexport, did not comment on the deal.

 

India has extended INS Sindhuvir to Myanmar for areas of military modernization. It is one of ten Kilo-class boats the Indian Navy commissioned between 1986 and 2000 but India lost INS Sindhurakshak in a dockyard explosion of ordnance in 2013 so the navy will be left with eight after Sindhuvir sails off to Myanmar.

 

In 2006-07, the Indian Navy had given out a pair of BN-2 Islander tactical maritime surveillance aircraft to Myanmar’s then Than Shwe. Meanwhile, the submarine hand over is more important that comes amidst China’s ongoing attempts to supply its older submarines to countries like Myanmar and Bangladesh. Bangladesh has already bought two old Ming-class submarines and four corvettes from Beijing.

 

The supply of Sindhuvir to Myanmar seeks to build on an ongoing military support effort and to also preclude China from getting a foothold in an area — submarine access in the Indian Ocean — where there has already been a concern. On the other hand, for India, Myanmar is one of the strategic neighbors and shares a 1,640-km border with the north-eastern states, including Mizoram, Nagaland, and Manipur. There is a 725-km India-Myanmar maritime boundary.

 

Earlier, it was reported that the Indian Navy is considering a proposal offered from Russia for three refurbished Kilo-class submarines. Along with this, it has also offered another proposal "to conduct refit work on three of the Indian Navy's existing class of Sindhughosh Kilo (Project 877EKM)-class submarines". For the whole deal, the company has reportedly offered a $1.8 billion "three plus three" package.