Russian-made T-90 battle tanks in Moscow I Photo credit: Creative Commons | Photo Credit: Twitter

New Delhi: Pakistan has plans to procure 600 tanks including Russian-made T-90s to beef up its capabilities along the border with India, as per an intelligence reported cited by the news agency PTI. The battle tanks being procured will have a strike capability in the range of 3-4 kilometres. Islamabad has also placed an order of 245 150mm SP Mike-10 guns, out of which 120 guns have already been procured from Italy.

The report says Pakistan has placed an order of T-90s from Russia in a bid to bolster its relationship with Russia. Moscow and New Delhi are ‘all-weather’ allies and share a defence relationship that goes back to the Soviet era.

The latest defence acquisitions are part of Pakistan Army’s plan to revamp its armoured fleet by 2025. Islamabad has plans to acquire 360 battle tanks other than 220 tanks that will be procured with the help of Beijing.

The Indian Army too has plans to overhaul and modernise its infantry and armoured divisions. However, most of the projects to acquire including the Futuristic Combat Vehicle (FICV) are stuck owing to various bottlenecks.

India’s armoured divisions consist of T-90s, T-72s and Arjuna tanks, considered far superior to Pakistani tanks. As per the intelligence report, India has 67 Armoured divisions as compared to Pakistan’s 51, a gap that Islamabad is working overtime to bridge. The report also said 70 percent of Pakistan tanks do not have the capability to operate during night, which is major cause of concern for Pakistani generals.