Islamabad: China will construct six patrol vessels for Pakistan’s Maritime Security Agency under an agreement signed here on Wednesday.
Four vessels will be built in China and the remaining two in Karachi under a technology transfer agreement signed at the Defence Production Ministry in Rawalpindi.
The documents were signed by M/s China Ship Trading Company and the Pakistani government.
The ministry’s spokesperson said the acquisition of new ships would boost the maritime agency’s operational preparedness to protect resources in Pakistan’s Exclusive Economic Zone.
Last year, the executive committee of the National Economic Council had approved 13.87 billion Pakistan rupees (Dh500 million) for the procurement of six maritime patrol vessels.
The latest agreement coincided with the visit of the Chinese Vice-Minister of State Security Dong Haizhou, to Pakistan.
The Chinese vice-minister met on Wednesday with Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif.
Matters related to security of the $46 billion (Dh168 billion) China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project were also discussed during the meeting, according to a military statement.
Dong Haizhou said China attaches great importance to its relations with Pakistan, and early completion of the project would not only benefit Pakistan and China but the entire region.
The 3,000km corridor running from the southern Gwadar port on the Arabian Sea to China’s western Xinjiang region was launched in April during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Islamabad.
