ISLAMABAD – It’s not been long since the two nuclear states, Pakistan andIndia, stood at the brink of war. Soon after the Pulwama incident, theIndian Air force attacked and violated Pakistan’s airspace. But that wasnot the only operation the Indian military was carrying out at that time.
It has been revealed by an India publication that the Indian Navy was alsoin action at that time. According to the media report, the Indian Navypulled a major part of its fleet from an exercise and deployed it close toPakistani territorial waters.
The fleet included nuclear and conventional submarines. As the tensionsbetween the two countries simmered, India started keeping a close eye onPakistan Navy’s movements. It was unable to locate an advanced PakistaniAgosta-class submarines-PNS Saad.
The missing Pakistani submarine made the entire Indian Navy go on a huntthat lasted for 21 days. “All the areas where it could have gone in thegiven timeframe, extensive searches were carried out by the Indian Navy.P-8Is were pressed into service to locate the submarine along with thecoastal areas of Gujarat followed by Maharashtra and other states,” statesthe media report.——————————
The P-81s have been recently acquired by India from the US. They are theadvanced maritime surveillance aircraft having potent anti-submarinewarfare capabilities.Perceived Threat
According to the Indian government sources, the PNS Saad had vanished fromnear Karachi, and it could reach the Gujarat coast, India, in three daysand the western fleet’s headquarters of Mumbai within five days. It wasdeemed a major threat to the security of India.
The Indian Navy took all the necessary steps to locate PNS Saad. The optionof punitive military force was also made open, in case the submarinerefused to surface. The country’s Navy committed its most potent assets tothe search points. It employed satellites for the search and kept expandingits areas of search.
However, India claims that they finally located the Pakistan submarine inthe country’s western territorial waters.
If the past events are recalled, Pakistan Navy had disclosed on May 5 thatit had thwarted an Indian submarine from entering into Pakistaniterritorial waters, releasing a video as well. The claim was downplayed bythe Indian side.