On March 13, 2025, Pakistani and Chinese officials marked the launch of a Hangor-class submarine, the second of eight such advanced platforms that Pakistan is procuring from China. While the submarine, an export variant of China’s Yuan-class submarine, is conventionally powered, some analysts and former officials argue that Pakistan will likely equip at least some of these vessels with nuclear weapons.
Meanwhile, the Indian Navy commissioned its second nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN), the INS Arighaat, last August, and three months later used it to test launch the nuclear-capable K-4 submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM).
India and Pakistan are…