A look at Gwadar deep-sea port, Strategic and Econmic Dimensions

[Omer]

Once a small fishing town along the Makran Coast is now set to become a mega seaport which will fulfill the requirement of three geographically important regions, The entire subcontinent, Wes China, central Asia States, and Afghanistan.
The Gwadar Project, recently inaugurated by President Musharraf, is the fourth mega project initiated by the present regime for the uplift of the people of Balochistan-Pakistan's strategically important, yet in socio-economic terms, most neglected province. The other three important projects are Mirani Dam, revival of Saindak Project and Coastal Highway.
Located at the Arabian Sea Coast with vast, arid and extremely backward Mekran Division of Balochistan as hinterland, Gwadar deep sea port, being built with Chinese co-operation, will not only enhance Pakistan's strategic importance in Southwest Asian region, it will usher in a new era of socio-economic development in Balochistan because, as President Pervez Musharraf has rightly pointed out, this area, after the construction of Gwadar Port, will become hub of economic and trade activities in the whole region . The people of Balochistan have for long been in need of such development projects, but unfortunately, almost every past regime had paid only lip service to their demands, doing nothing practically . The need for an alternate deep-sea port has since long been recognised, both from strategic view-point and economic perspectives. Gwadar was the best choice because it offered ideal conditions for building a deep-sea port and secondly, it is situated 470 km away from Karachi, making it less vulnerable to the Indian naval blockade, which Pakistan faced during the 1971 War . Despite the fact that Karachi was increasingly becoming clogged due to heavy cargo, the work on Gwadar suffered from foot-dragging and official apathy. When the military government assumed power, it gave the go ahead and initiated negotiations with China to speed up work on the Gwadar Project. For this purpose, Pakistan's Finance Minister, Mr. Shaukat Aziz visited Beijing in August last year where he signed an agreement with Chinese leaders on the construction of Gwadar deep-sea port and coastal highways. Under the agreement, the Chinese will provide $ 200 million to Pakistan for the construction of the first phase of the project. The total cost would be $ 250 million and the work is proposed to be completed in three years. President Musharraf performed the groundbreaking ceremony of Mekran Coastal Highway, Phase II, Turbat-Mand Road and Mirani Dam on August 17 last year in Gwadar. Pakistan's Minister for Communication, who declared that the area would be made a Free-Trade Zone for exports to the Gulf region, also accompanied the President

The construction of a deep-sea port at Gwadar is just one component of the Greater Gwadar Plan . Under this Plan, which will be carried out by Gwadar Development Authority, in addition to Gwadar port, a network of roads, connecting Gwadar with Karachi, Pasni , Ormara and Turbat will be constructed in four phases. The Coastal Highway linking Karachi with Gwadar (675 km) is being built simultaneously with the port. Other highways, from Pasni to Gwadar (135km), Ormara-Gwadar (275km) and Gwadar-Turbat (188 km) will be built in Phase II of the project. The first two phases of the project, costing about Rs. 3 billion, will be completed in two to three years. In phase III, Pasni will be connected with Ormara and in the fourth phase, Pasni will be connected to Gupt at the Iranian border. This network of roads will finally be connected with China through the Indus Highway. Under an agreement, Pakistan, China, Kazakhistan, Kyrgizstan and Uzbekistan are already committed to developing extensive railroad links from Central Asia and the Chinese province of Sinkiang to the Arabian Sea Coast. The completion of this communication network will not only facilitate the movement of goods from China and Central Asian Republics to the countries of the Persian Gulf, Middle East, East Africa, the Indian Ocean and beyond through Gwadar, the countries of these regions will also have an easy and short route for access to Central Asia for trade and economic co-operation purposes. In this scenario, Gwadar port emerges as a place of great strategic value, giving tremendous boost to Pakistan's importance in the whole region, extending from the Persian Gulf through the Indian Ocean to Southeast Asia and the Far East.

FROM PAKISTAN'S PERSPECTIVE, THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE GWADAR PORT WILL STRENGTHEN ITS ECONOMY AND DEFENCE. GWADAR IS SITUATED AT A DISTANCE OF 470 KM WESTWARD FROM KARACHI ON THE ARABIAN SEA COAST, WHICH MAKES IT A BIT DIFFICULT FOR THE INDIAN NAVY TO ACHIEVE A NAVAL BLOCKADE OF PAKISTAN. The project is being built with Chinese help and co-operation, which will, as President Musharraf said, further strengthen Pak-China friendship . Although Pakistan, during the last about four decades, has provided an opening to China on the countries of the Persian Gulf, Middle East and East Africa, Gwadar will give the Chinese an opportunity to establish for the first time a naval presence in the Arabian Sea and Western part of the Indian Ocean. The Chinese are already comfortably placed in Myanmar in the eastern part of the Indian Ocean; their presence at Gwadar will further increase their naval presence in the Indian Ocean, which has gained strategic prominence in view of America's war on Afghanistan. The Indians as well as Americans seem to be considerably perturbed over the Chinese participation in the Gwadar Project, perceiving it as a bid by the Chinese to gain a strategic footing in the North western part of the Indian Ocean, where the Americans maintain a formidable naval presence through a chain of military bases and concentration of warships and submarines. The Indians have become so alarmed over the Chinese participation in the construction of Gwadar port that their policy makers and strategic planners have strongly urged their government to immediately take measures for the modernisation and up-gradation of the Indian navy, which with two fleets is already the largest naval force in Southeast Asia.

The Gwadar Project, when completed, will bring urgently needed socio-economic development to the Mekran Division of Balochistan, which is the most backward area of the province . Despite the fact that the region is of great historical and strategic value, it lags far behind the other parts of Balochistan in terms of literacy attainment, health facilities and employment opportunities. There is no industry and because of the lack of water, only a small portion of land is brought under cultivation. Most of the people live in rural areas without essential civic amenities like electricity, safe drinking water and health facilities. The dominant profession is cattle breeding, which has also badly suffered over the last few years due to persistent drought and consecutive failure of rains. The Gulf had been a major source of income for the local people, but due to 1991 War and deteriorating economic conditions in the Arab Sheikhdoms, a large majority of the people from Mekran working in the Gulf countries as skilled and unskilled workers have recently returned.

The return of expatriates has not only caused a set back to an already fragile economy of the region, it has led to the rise of serious social problems like narcotics use, smuggling, unemployment, crime and alienation among the youth. The implementation of mega projects like Gwadar is, therefore, extremely important in Balochistan and particularly in Mekran, which politically is one of the most sensitive areas of Pakistan. Apart from such benefits like enhancement of strategic value of the country and tangible socio-economic benefits for the people of the region, the implementation of Gwadar Project would restore the credibility of the federal government of Pakistan among the people of Balochistan who, for the last five decades, have been fed on false promises of development. Take for example, Mirani Dam and Saindak Project. The people of Dasht valley have been hearing about the building of a dam on the Dasht River since fifties. Many a time the plans for its construction were announced. But, then, nothing was heard about them. It is only the present government that has taken concrete steps to implement the Mirani Dam Project. Similarly, the Saindak Project has been revived after a delay of two decades. There is a widespread perception among the people of Balochistan, particularly in Mekran division and coastal areas of the province that their areas are deliberately kept underdeveloped by the federal bureaucracy for political reasons. Through implementation of mega projects like Gwadar, the present government will not only cause socio-economic development in the region, it will make an important contribution to the process of national integration.