Exclusive: Chinese Submarine, Warships In Karachi - What It Means For India

The exercises come at a time when China has significantly expanded its maritime presence in the waters of the Indian Ocean.

High resolution satellite images accessed by NDTV indicate the presence of several frontline Chinese warships, a submarine and fleet support ships docked at Karachi harbour as Beijing and Islamabad kick off their largest ever Naval exercises. Vessel YANGCHENGHU a suspected PLA NAVY TYPE 926 Submarine Support Vessel, is currently approaching Karachi, it was tracked from China's Hainan Naval base & is likely en-route to Pakistan for the upcoming China-Pakistan Joint Naval Drills pic.twitter.com/04vJQY4reF

The Sea Guardian-3 exercises come at a time when China has significantly expanded its maritime presence in the waters of the Indian Ocean. This includes the construction of a major base in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa and also through the sale of several modern platforms to regional Navies, including, most recently, four Type-054 A/P frigates to the Pakistan Navy.

A number of Chinese surveillance and oceanographic survey ships have also been detected in the Indian Ocean over the last year. Earlier this month, a Chinese ocean research ship, the Shi Yan 6, docked in Colombo but not before it sailed north into the Bay Bengal between the Tamil Nadu coastline and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. It is widely believed that China has been actively charting the waters of the Indian Ocean, including the Bay of Bengal, to enable extensive submarine operations across the region.