Post Reply 
 
Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Beijing and Islamabad See Gwadar as the Future Jewel in the crown of the CPEC
12-18-2017, 02:14 PM
Post: #1
Beijing and Islamabad See Gwadar as the Future Jewel in the crown of the CPEC
GWADAR: China is lavishing vast amounts of aid on a small Pakistani fishing town to win over locals and build a commercial deep-water port that the United States and India suspect may also one day serve the Chinese navy.

Beijing has built a school, sent doctors and pledged about $500 million in grants for an airport, hospital, college and badly-needed water infrastructure for Gwadar, a dusty town whose harbor juts out into the Arabian Sea, overlooking some of the world’s busiest oil and gas shipping lanes.

The grants include $230 million for a new international airport, one of the largest such disbursements China has made abroad, according to researchers and Pakistani officials.

The handouts for the Gwadar project is a departure from Beijing’s usual approach in other countries. China has traditionally derided Western-style aid in favor of infrastructure projects for which it normally provides loans through Chinese state-owned commercial and development banks.

“The concentration of grants is quite striking,” said Andrew Small, an author of a book on China-Pakistan relations and a Washington-based researcher at the German Marshall Fund think tank.

“China largely doesn’t do aid or grants, and when it has done them, they have tended to be modest.”

Pakistan has welcomed the aid with open hands. However, Beijing’s unusual largess has also fueled suspicions in the United States and India that Gwadar is part of China’s future geostrategic plans to challenge U.S. naval dominance.

Beijing and Islamabad see Gwadar as the future jewel in the crown of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship of Beijing’s Belt and Road initiative to build a new “Silk Road” of land and maritime trade routes across more than 60 countries in Asia, Europe and Africa.

The plan is to turn Gwadar into a trans-shipment hub and megaport to be built alongside special economic zones from which export-focused industries will ship goods worldwide. A web of energy pipelines, roads and rail links will connect Gwadar to China’s western regions.

Port trade is expected to grow from 1.2 million tonnes in 2018 to about 13 million tonnes by 2022, Pakistani officials say. At the harbor, three new cranes have been installed and dredging will next year deepen the port depth to 20 meters at five berths.

But the challenges are stark. Gwadar has no access to drinking water, power blackouts are common and separatist insurgents threaten attacks against Chinese projects in Gwadar and the rest of Baluchistan, a mineral-rich province that is still Pakistan’s poorest region.

Security is tight, with Chinese and other foreign visitors driven around in convoys of soldiers and armed police.

Beijing is also trying to overcome the distrust of outsiders evident in Baluchistan, where indigenous Baloch fear an influx of other ethnic groups and foreigners. Many residents say the pace of change is too slow.

“Local people are not completely satisfied,” said Essar Nori, a lawmaker for Gwadar, adding that the separatists were tapping into that dissatisfaction. Pakistani officials are urging Gwadar residents to be patient, vowing to urgently build desalination plants and power stations.
Visit this user's website Find all posts by this user
Quote this message in a reply
Post Reply 


Possibly Related Threads...
Thread: Author Replies: Views: Last Post
  DHA Lahore Phase 7: Exploring Latest Prices, New Developments & Future Prospects LRE-Azan 0 111 01-26-2024 03:37 PM
Last Post: LRE-Azan
  DHA Lahore Commercial Top Picks: Your Ultimate Investment Guide and Future Outlook LRE-Azan 0 82 01-17-2024 03:36 PM
Last Post: LRE-Azan
  DHA Lahore Phase 7 Y-Extension: A Look at Development, Prices, and Future Potential | LRE-Azan 0 173 12-27-2023 04:59 PM
Last Post: LRE-Azan
  DHA Investment Opportunities: Recommendations | Future Returns LRE-Azan 0 164 11-24-2023 03:21 PM
Last Post: LRE-Azan
  DHA Lahore Investment Guide: Top 5 Marla Files to Buy Now | Price Trends & Future Pro LRE-Azan 0 226 09-12-2023 06:59 PM
Last Post: LRE-Azan
  What will be the Future of DHA Multan Files When its ballot will be Expected LRE-Azan 0 247 09-02-2023 05:08 PM
Last Post: LRE-Azan
  DHA Multan | What will be the Prices, Future and Reviews about Outside the Ring Road LRE-Azan 0 266 08-29-2023 07:07 PM
Last Post: LRE-Azan
  DHA Rahbar Sector 4 - Time to Invest in Your Future | Most Profitable Investment | Po LRE-Azan 0 497 01-20-2023 11:59 AM
Last Post: LRE-Azan
  DHA Multan - Buy Now to Secure Your Future | Plots for Sale at Lowest Prices | Lahore LRE-Azan 0 500 01-18-2023 12:17 PM
Last Post: LRE-Azan
  BOI signs the Framework Agreement on CPEC Industrial Cooperation during PM’s visit to LRE-Azan 0 992 02-06-2022 01:55 PM
Last Post: LRE-Azan
  New energy projects under CPEC: Chinese currency to be used instead of dollar LRE-Azan 0 2,205 11-05-2019 11:53 AM
Last Post: LRE-Azan
  DHA Bahawalpur Future Development and Infrastructure - 22/10/2019 LRE-Azan 0 1,642 10-22-2019 07:15 PM
Last Post: LRE-Azan
  Bahria Town Karachi in depth analysis and future 2019 LRE-Azan 0 1,890 03-27-2019 02:35 PM
Last Post: LRE-Azan
  DHA City Lahore ( DHA Phase 13 ) Past Present & Future When To Buy Sell LRE Jan 2019 LRE-Azan 0 1,849 01-21-2019 03:44 PM
Last Post: LRE-Azan
  Gwadar Cpec News: Warmest congratulations Hub Power Generation Unit 1 of 1320 MW LRE-Azan 0 2,009 01-08-2019 07:25 PM
Last Post: LRE-Azan
  Naval Anchorage Gwadar Location Map Prices Development Update Future By LRE Dec 2018 LRE-Azan 0 2,059 12-18-2018 03:42 PM
Last Post: LRE-Azan
  DHA Multan Latest Development and Investment Future Details by LRE Dec 2018 LRE-Azan 0 1,888 12-06-2018 11:52 PM
Last Post: LRE-Azan
  LDA City Lahore Future and Development Update briefly Detail By CMY of LRE LRE-Azan 0 1,595 11-26-2018 01:06 PM
Last Post: LRE-Azan
  Stop the Chinese Residential ownership in Pakistan for CPEC LRE-Azan 0 2,414 05-29-2018 02:22 PM
Last Post: LRE-Azan
  China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Is Sign Of Prosperity: Ghulam Dastagir LRE-Azan 0 2,607 05-25-2018 05:11 PM
Last Post: LRE-Azan

Forum Jump:


User(s) browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)