Karachi, Sept 15, 2004 (Reuters)

Pakistan's navy, striving to expand with Chinese and French technology, said on Wednesday it wanted more ships and submarines to narrow a huge gap in capabilities with India.

"The disparity between the Pakistan navy and Indian navy is colossal. It is not to our liking," Admiral Shahid Karimullah, chief of naval staff, told reporters in the port city of Karachi.

"Indians have no dearth of weapons supply from Russia, whereas we suffered because of sanctions," he added. "We have disparity in every field, whether you talk of ships or submarines."

Although the United States lifted sanctions after Pakistan joined the US-led war on terror, their effects remained, he said.

Karimullah was speaking at a news conference on the second day of an international defence exhibition.

Exhibitors and delegates from more than 50 countries are participating in the exhibition, which is being held under tight security because of the fear of sabotage or terror assaults by al Qaeda or local militant groups.

Pakistan, which sells around $100 million worth of weapons and ammunition abroad annually, is also hoping to use the exhibition to boost exports, offering to sell indigenously built missile boats and submarines.

GAP WITH INDIA A CONCERN

Karimullah said India's significant advantage in conventional military hardware was a major worry for Pakistan.

Karimullah said that without resolving the central dispute over divided Kashmir, the dream of a lasting peace in South Asia would not materialise.

"That's why Pakistan wants to maintain a minimum deterrence both in conventional and unconventional weapons," he said.

Naval experts say the gap between the Pakistani and Indian navies was around one to five, and government officials have warned that India's superiority in both spheres was a destabilising factor in the region.

Karimullah said Pakistan's navy was striving for self-reliance and its defence industry was rapidly expanding.

Pakistan has already built two Agosta 90-B submarines with French help. A third, capable of staying submerged longer, is now under construction, he said.

Three days ago, Pakistan inducted two indigenously built missile boats to its fleet, and a larger project of building frigates with Chinese help was planned.

Pakistan is trying to acquire a $750 million preferential loan from China to build four frigates over 13 years.

It is also seeking to buy anti-submarine and maritime surveillance P-3 aircraft from the United States.

The P-3s would replace the ageing Atlantic aircraft now in use, Karimullah said.