Pakistan, May 2 -- Maritime Pakistan has placed it at a crossroad of some of the most important sea lines of communication in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). Opportunity and vulnerability exist here. Pakistan's defence posture has been compelled to shift away from old systems amid growing strategic competition, technological disruption, and hybrid maritime threats. This modification is manifested in the induction of the HANGOR-class submarines. Not simply a platform of platforms, but an active support of a policy of sea denial and of plausible minimum deterrence.

Submarines have been used as an instrument of asymmetric advantage. Since the earliest naval trials, they have enabled states to compensate for traditional asymmetries with steal...