While the news is welcome, we probably shouldn't celebrate just yet.
IIRC, Jliu raised two critical roadblocks between Pakistan's procurement of the U-214.
1. HDW would not be interested in selling the U214 to Pakistan at the risk of losing a larger contract with the Indians.
This seems to have been overcome, going by the interview at the beginning of this thread.
2. The potential of the German parliament not approving the deal due to pressure from the Indian-Israeli lobby.
Before the Mumbai attacks I would have argued, in the light of dramatically improved US-Pak cooperation on the WoT, that the pressure from the Indo-Israeli lobby would not be an issue. Now, a lot is going to depend on how Pakistan's cooperation with the Indian investigation is going to pan out. Unreasonable Indian demands and lack of cooperation with Pakistan (little involvement in the investigation, limited sharing of information, and huge expectations) could also skew this against Pakistan, despite the willingness to cooperate from our side, but that is a matter for a different thread.
well, I don't really know what to say? From what I can see, there is reversal in roles between, Germany, a former sub supplier to India, and France, a former sub supplier to Pakistan. Germany has bagged deals with the koreans, greeks, turks, and I think the Italians are included as well. I don't think any event will put a stop to their momentum.
for the past few months, there have been plenty of German delegations visiting Pakistan, promoting economic cooperation and pledging aid. More importantly, the German army chief paid a visit to Pakistan personally. Germany's supply lines run through Pakistan, that is another factor to pay attention to.
If Pakistan withdraws its troops from the western border, and goes even further allying itself to the TTP like recent news articles are suggesting, well you get the picture.
don't worry, Agno, this was a done deal a long time ago.
this time, all submarines will be constructed in Pakistan. Also keep in mind, that we can fulfill our
next future submarine requirement with the turks. The turks will develop their own hull based off the U-214, it will be larger, house their latest command&control, subsystems, sonars, torpedos co-developed by turks and south koreans, and their own hydrogen fuel cells.
here is a recent news article giving us a good idea about Germany's policies.
Germany agrees to write off 40m euro Pak debt
Monday, December 01, 2008
By Shafqat Munir
ISLAMABAD: Germany on Sunday agreed to write off euro 40 million of Pakistan debt on the condition that Pakistan invests Ä20 million in domestic health programmes supported by the Global Fund.
HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria remain public health threats in Pakistan with approximately 85,000 people living with HIV and many lives lost every year due to malaria and tuberculosis.
To date, the Global Fund has approved funding for six programmes fighting HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in Pakistan worth more than US$130 million over five years. Of this amount, approximately US$37 million has already been disbursed to the country.
A tripartite agreement under Debt2Health initiative was signed in Doha (Qatar) on the sidelines of the UN follow-up conference on Financing for Development among Germany, Pakistan and the Global Fund with a commitment to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. Pakistan became the second country after Indonesia to benefit from Detb2Health financing instrument, a type of debt swap for health. In September 2007, Germany agreed to write off Ä50 million of Indonesian debt of similar nature.
The agreement with Pakistan was concluded between Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, the special envoy of the UN Secretary General for the conference, German federal minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Minister of State for Finance and Economic Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar and Dr Michel Kazatchkine, Executive Director of the Global Fund at a signing ceremony followed by a press conference.
Speaking on this occasion, Hina Rabbani Khar said, The Debt2Health initiative allows us to turn debt into urgently-needed new resources for health in Pakistan. She hoped that other creditor countries would join this initiative and offer Debt2Health agreements to Pakistan and other countries struggling with high disease burden and high levels of debt service.
The Debt2Health is a win-win situation for Pakistan, Germany and the Global Fund. Pakistan receives more investments in health, the Global Fund increases predictability for its work and Germany contributes its share to the global fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, said the German minister, adding, I am proud that Pakistan and Germany are among the pioneers in this new initiative which bears testimony to the good relations between our countries. The Global Funds Executive Director, Michel Kazatchkine, also hailed the agreement. He said: Debt2Health goes beyond traditional financing for development.
Germany agrees to write off 40m euro Pak debt
