China takes control of Pakistani port as Singapore bows out
A Chinese state-owned company is taking over the management and development of Pakistan’s economically and militarily strategic Gwadar Port after a Singaporean company pulled out of its 40-year contract, Daily Shipping Times reports.
The developments are being closely followed in India and the United States, where China’s interest in Gwadar is viewed as part of Beijing’s acquisition of access to several ports across Asia as bases for its increasingly assertive navy, known as its “string of pearls strategy.”
Gwadar, in Pakistan’s western Balochistan province close to the border with Iran, is indeed a strategic location. It is close to the Strait of Hormuz, gateway to the oil terminals of the Middle East, but also overlooks all the major shipping lanes linking Asia, Africa and Europe. Over 60 per cent of global trade and oil shipments travel the waters overlooked by Gwadar Port. And if ever Afghanistan opts for peace and economic development instead of stupidity and civil war, Gwadar is the perfect terminus for trade with Central Asia.
The Pakistan Navy acquired ownership of the 236 hectares next door to Gwadar Port some years ago in payment from the Balochistan government for unspecified services.
It should be kept in mind that since development of the port started 10 years ago land values in the area have risen dramatically and there have been huge scandals about people and institutions, including Islamabad government ministers, who have acquired land around Gwadar at artificially low prices.