![A Pakistani navy personnel stands guard beside a ship carrying containers during the opening of a trade project at Gwadar port on November 13, 2016. More recently, doubts have emerged about China's true intentions at the strategic Indian Ocean port. [Aamir Qureshi/AFP]](/cnmi_st/images/2023/04/21/41774-i23e0-highres-739_416.webp)
ISLAMABAD -- Recent reports by leading international think-tanks that warn of China's potential military use of Pakistan's Gwadar port have rekindled a debate about the intentions of the Chinese military to expand its maritime presence in the region.
Gwadar, a coastal town in Balochistan province, is expected to be a major part of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), also known as One Belt One Road (OBOR), opening Pakistan to trade and development projects.
But many Pakistanis consider the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a Pakistani component of the BRI, harmful to their country and beneficial to China.
Reports from the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) and the Ankara Centre for Crisis and Policy Studies (ACCPS) suggest that China will use the Gwadar port to project military power in the Indian Ocean region.
![Gwadar port in Balochistan is shown in an undated photo. Analysts are expressing concern that China could use the Pakistani port to project military power in the Indian Ocean. [Gwadar Port Authority]](/cnmi_st/images/2023/04/21/41775-gwadar-739_416.webp)
Gwadar port in Balochistan is shown in an undated photo. Analysts are expressing concern that China could use the Pakistani port to project military power in the Indian Ocean. [Gwadar Port Authority]
"The prospects for China projecting military power over the Indian Ocean from Pakistan's western coast are growing," the USIP said in a March report.
"Pakistan is one of 13 countries named in the Pentagon's most recent report on China's military power as a potential location for additional Chinese military facilities and logistical units to be positioned in support of naval, air, ground, cyber and space power projection," the report said.
"What may appear as limited, contingency access closely overseen by the host nation can quickly evolve into basing," it added.
Laying the groundwork for China's military
Gwadar's deep sea port is useful to China for several reasons, according to the USIP.
Its pier can accommodate even the biggest People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy vessels, and there is an adjacent laydown area where military equipment can be assembled and materials and supplies pre-positioned, it said.
"As the Pakistan Navy inducts new submarines in addition to surface and coastal combat craft from China, its facilities, parts and technicians could potentially be tasked to support portions of the PLA Navy fleet," the report added.
"Gwadar's new airport and runway to be completed in 2023 will also be accommodative of China's strategic airlift fleet," it said.
The report noted "the conspicuous absence of commercial activity at Gwadar -- which has raised the suspicions of expert observers".
This makes it easier for "a naval footprint to increase" without attracting attention, it said, adding that "open-source satellite imagery analysis has detected Chinese complexes in Gwadar with unusually high security".
The ACCPS report from March 2022 also suggested that "China's major motivation for wanting to build a port in Gwadar is not commercial". Rather, it is deemed necessary for "China's internal and foreign security policy".
The port is about 3,000km from the Xinjiang region of China and about another 3,500km to China's eastern coast. It is also adjacent to the Indian Ocean, the Strait of Hormuz and the Arab Gulf.
"Gwadar will be in the forefront of the military outposts that China plans to build," according to the ACCPS report.
"Gwadar might be a viable replenishment and transfer destination for PLA equipment and people if the relevant infrastructure improvements are completed," it added.
"It also plays an important role in providing military security for China's commercial interests," the report said.
Growing security concerns
The exponential growth of Chinese influence in Pakistan, particularly in Balochistan -- with Chinese companies exploiting local resources without care or concern for the impact on locals -- has led to serious unrest in the province.
In another study in January, the ACCPS noted the security concerns posed by Chinese construction in Gwadar.
"In particular, the presence of various ethnic-separatist and radical religious terrorist organisations in the region between Gwadar and China significantly threatens foreign investors, investments and infrastructure projects," it said.
"There have been protests in the region at various times. The most important criticism of the people is that they cannot directly benefit from the investments made and the employment created."
In December, Pakistani authorities, at the behest of Beijing according to locals, cracked down hard on a protest movement in Gwadar.
The protesters were seeking an end to illegal deep-sea fishing by local and Chinese trawlers and the harassment of locals at security checkpoints leading to Gwadar port.
Instead of providing teachers and schools for Gwadar residents, CPEC has led to military checkpoints and military personnel who guard Chinese nationals and their interests, Maulana Hidayatur Rehman, the movement's leader, told a Lahore seminar in 2022.
Anger over growing Chinese influence in Balochistan has spurred Baloch and Sindhi militant organisations to ally with each other to target Chinese interests in the country.
Violence against Chinese interests
In the latest flare up of violence, four policemen were killed Tuesday (April 11) in a gun battle with militants in Balochistan province, hours after four people died in a bomb blast in Quetta, the region's capital.
Militants identified by police as being from the Tehreek-e-Pakistan Taliban (TTP) opened fire on a pre-dawn patrol in Kuchlak, AFP reported.
On Monday, two policemen and two civilians were killed by a motorcycle bomb in a busy Quetta market.
That attack was claimed by the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), which has been responsible for a number of attacks in the province, including against Chinese interests.
In September, a gunman killed a man and wounded two others of Chinese origin in an attack in Karachi, according to police.
In April 2022, the BLA claimed responsibility for killing four people, including three Chinese teachers, in a suicide attack inside a state-run university in Karachi.
According to the report published by the Chinese government on the anniversary of the beginning of the new Silk Route super project called One Belt One Road (OBOR), the cooperation of countries in this project has brought real achievements for them. This has facilitated the correct development of economic globalization and helped to solve the challenges of developing and improving the global governance system and has opened a new path for countries on the path to modernization. Taking advantage of its expertise in renewable energy, conservation of energy resources, environmental protection and application of technology, China is also promoting green development, and from Asia to Africa, Latin America to the South Pacific, with a priority on road construction; railways, schools, hospitals and agricultural facilities have helped to reduce poverty and improve people's welfare. Based on the framework of "six corridors, six routes and several countries and ports", a multi-dimensional and multi-dimensional infrastructure network is being formed and connected on land, sea, air and cyberspace. Many international shipping routes have been defined in China's Silk Route. Some of these routes include the China-Europe High-Speed Rail, the China-Europe Land-Sea Expressway, a new international land-sea trade corridor, and the Eurasian Land-Sea Highway named Lianyungang-Khorgos. In addition, along the new Eurasian land bridge, the Belgrade-Novi Sad section of the Hungarian-Serbian railway has
Reply6 Comment
... gave power through the Doha agreement to the people for whom tens of thousands of Afghans were killed. Look at this, which clears the death toll of the Afghans, the Western soldiers, and their contractors. https://apnews.com/article/middle-east-business-afghanistan-43d8f53b35e80ec18c130cd683e1a38f Well, what is it for? The topic went in another direction. This means that Britain, America, and the Soviet Union were either unable to help reconstruct Afghanistan or they did not want or plan to work in Afghanistan in the future. Still, China has become a reality, and China has grasped the whole area. There is a possibility that the Chinese project will also benefit Afghanistan. Of course, there is one thing that the Afghan government should not borrow from China. Our people are poor; if they sink into debt like Pakistan, raising their heads will not be easy.
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If one looks at the region's past and present history and then at China's plans and projects, one will wonder what has happened and what should be done. Britain ruled the region, including Afghanistan, for decades, but instead of benefiting the region's countries, they tortured, beat, and killed the people. After her departure, she left this mission to her bastard child, Pakistan, which both India and Afghanistan are still uneasy about. They train terrorists, then send them to Afghanistan and India in the name of Mujahideen, who kill the people. During the past 20 years, if we look at the dominance of America in the region under the pretext of al-Qaeda, atrocities have been committed in South Asia and the Middle East, which humanity feels ashamed of. Photos and videos of Abu Ghraib prison, where people were tortured and piled up, will never be forgotten by anyone. Which part of the human rights charters allows the urination by British soldiers on the dead bodies of the armed opponents in Helmand? Some time ago, I read on the Internet that the British government decided to pay GBP 1,600 to the families of Afghan children who British soldiers killed. Is this humanity? Is this a human right? Is this civilization? Is this Islam? Is this Christianity? Is this Judaism?... One would not sell even his cow for GBP 1600, so how can the price of an Afghan child's head be GBP 1600? The international coalition came to our region to suppress the terrorists. Still, they did not show anyone t
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It is said that the United States and its allies have left the field, so now, another country will enter the field instead of them. Now that the field is empty, everyone is looking for their own interests. China and Russia are opportunist countries. They used this opportunity to enter the heart of Afghanistan, and Pakistan cannot get rid of its debts. She will do whatever they tell her. Gwadar port will also be left to China for money. With Imran Khan, the relations between Russia and China were good before, and there was also the effect of loans, which the Pakistanis could not do anything against. And relations with the ruling government of Afghanistan are also good. They hold meetings; therefore, they will definitely extend their hands to Afghanistan, militarily and in every aspect.
Reply6 Comment
If it is true that Pakistan is giving Gwadar port to China to boost its economy, it will become very dangerous for Pakistan. Because India, Pakistan's neighbor, can tolerate Pakistan; however, they will not tolerate the activities of the Chinese near its territory. India will use every possible way to strengthen Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, and China-Pakistan cooperation will end in the destruction of Pakistan. On the other hand, recent developments are unpleasant for America. Americans are watching everything closely and there is no doubt that the handing over of Gwadar by Pakistan to China will complicate the relationship between the US and Pakistan, which will have bad consequences for the Pakistani people.
Reply6 Comment
China's programs in the region are progressing quickly. There are two important and effective ways to fight against these programs. One way is for China's rivals to compete against China's economic programs in the region. It can be questioned that it is easy and cheap for China to implement economic programs in the region, and it is difficult for the West (America and Europe), but the truth is not like that. Look, an American/European worker works for $100 a day, and a Chinese worker works for $20 daily. Still, it is also a fact that the region's people oppose China's programs because they say that if China implements any project, it brings its people and employs them in the projects. In other words, the local people are angry because of this work of China. A Chinese works for $20 a day, but an Afghan, Pakistani, Iranian, ... worker is ready to work for $10 a day and will be happy too. I mean that China's rivals can compete economically with China in the region and implement development projects instead of running a war machine. The second way that is dangerous is war. To prevent the development of China in the region, it is necessary to cut the artery of China's development, and this artery is to cut the artery of BRI in Pakistan. If the rivals of China want, they can support the freedom fighters of Balochistan and the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) of Pashtuns in propaganda and arms. These two groups are against the friendship between Pakistan and China and the looting of Ba
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