INDIA has gifted Myanmar a Kilo- class diesel electric submarine as New Delhi attempts to boost its ties with the nation while countering China's clout in the region.
The Indian Navy has handed over its retrofitted INS Sindhuvir to the country for training and operations and Myanmar has renamed it as UMS Minye Theinkhathu, a historical hero in Myanmar.
The submarine was showcased during the Myanmar navy's fleet exercise recently.
With a displacement of 3,000 tonnes, a maximum operating depth of 300 meters and a top speed of 18 knots, the vessel is Myanmar's first submarine.
According to a report in India Today, New Delhi is also working on the supply of Indian artillery guns, ammunition, night vision devices and other military hardware.
The submarine deal came after Indian Chief of the Army Staff Gen MM Naravane and Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla visited Myanmar early last month and held discussions with leader Aung San Suu Kyi and commander-in-chief of Myanmar's military Senior Gen Min Aung Hlaing.
During the visit, the two sides agreed to strengthen their partnership in trade and to enhance their defence cooperation.
The gifting of the submarine, the first supplied by India to any country, is also part of an effort by New Delhi to step up its defense engagement with Myanmar as it tries to contain China in neighbouring countries.
India is also working with Bangladesh to build and upgrade its defence capabilities.
It had previously supplied maritime reconnaissance aircraft, patrol vessels and ships, advanced torpedoes, radars, field guns and even small arms and ammunition to Myanmar.
The Indian Navy is now training Myanmar Navy personnel on submarine operations in Myanmar itself.
The submarine first entered service in 1988 and stayed in service for nearly three decades.
It has undergone extensive retrofitting and is expected to remain in service with the Myanmar Navy until about 2035.
According to Nikkei Asia, India sees Myanmar as its gateway to Southeast Asia, with which it is seeking greater economic integration through its 'Act East' policy.
The two nations share a 1,645 km long land and maritime border.
India has repeatedly emphasized the need for Asean to play a central role in the Indo-Pacific as China asserts itself in the region.
"India's decision to provide a submarine to Myanmar ... seems to be a well-calculated strategy to counterbalance an assertive China," Shamshad Ahmad Khan, a visiting associate fellow at the New Delhi-based Institute of Chinese Studies, told Nikkei Asia.
"By providing such a critical defense arsenal to Myanmar, India is clearly trying to augment the naval capability of its eastern neighbour to achieve a balance of power against China."
Myanmar is also believed to be planning to buy more similar submarines from Russia and it comes after its neighbour Bangladesh inducted two Ming-class diesel-electric submarines from China in 2016.
Beijing is also helping Bangladesh build a submarine base while helping to build a deep sea port in Kyaukpyu in Myanmar.
New Delhi sees these projects as representing yet another bid by China to expand its naval presence in countries that ring India, prompting it to strengthen its own partnerships in the region.
Meanwhile, the Global Times quotes Chinese military experts saying that those who saw the submarine deal as a move to counter China's influence in the region was an over-interpretation.
They said it was also a provocation meant to disrupt China's relationship with countries in the region.
The experts said that the submarine would pose little threat to China given its age, but the possibility that India intends to enhance ties with Southeast Asian countries that have close exchanges with China in various fields cannot be ruled out.