Deconstructing Gwadar
It is not just about business at the end of the day for China. China is far ambitious today than it was in the past. Beijing under Xi Jinping is formulating policies that are incredibly influential as well. The One Belt and One Road initiative, commonly known as the Belt and Road initiative is undoubtedly one of them.
Chinese investors, be it the government or the private investors, are amassing huge amounts of revenue and manpower into building infrastructure, industrial plants, port facilities, and economic zones in various parts of the world as a part of that initiative. Well, such constructions are not done directly. China extends loans to many of the nations and also assist national governments economically in building infrastructure and necessary facilities for improving the conditions of those nations. But this assistance comes at a cost. Most of the nations chosen as a part of the policy are ones that are way behind China in their economical and technological progress, and also the nations that can easily move into debt if the interests and loans are not paid back on time. This is a huge trap. A ‘debt trap’ precisely.
Look at the port of Hambantota, for example. One of the major ports of Sri Lanka has been handed over to China Merchants Port Holdings since the government could not pay back the debt to China.
The modus-operandi used by China is quite interesting. They initially emerge as a ‘messiah’ to those nations that are in the process of development, some of which are struggling countries like Pakistan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, etc, then lend loans at particular interest rates. Somewhere the rationale behind it is that China is well-aware that at least in the short term these nations would not be able to pay back the interests. Eventually, China moves to take over some of the ‘key’ and ‘strategic’ areas in these nations under Chinese authorities over non-payment of debt.
The Belt and Road is a drastic change in Chinese foreign policy after President Xi Jinping took office in 2013. It includes large amounts of investments in several fields and sectors and is not as simple as it seems. China incorporated several corridors through which resources like oil, goods and services could be transported and transferred in minimal time and at minimal cost. The Chinese-Pakistan economic corridor is a prime one in that lists of economic corridors. This is where the significance of Gwadar comes in.
Gwadar is a port in the southwestern coast of Balochistan province in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. In the recent years, the importance of Gwadar has highly risen with the announcement of CPEC.
Balochistan is quite different, be it culturally, politically or socially, from other provinces like Sindh and Punjab. The political situation of Balochistan itself is quite volatile since the ethnic minorities of Pashtuns and Balochis have been demanding secession from the Pakistan since last 70 years, from the time Pakistan gained its independence. There are umpteen number of claims put forward by Balochis and other minorities in the region, citing Pakistan military, army, and intelligence involvement in the disappearances, kidnappings and torture of number of Balochi residents.
The governments under General Pervez Musharraf, Imran Khan and previous leaders have done nothing to bring in developments or wellbeing in this province. Insurgencies have escalated since early 2000’s and prominent activists such as Karima Baloch died of drowning in Toronto and Baloch diaspora has once again claimed that Pakistan has hands in her ‘murder’. So why is such a conflicted region of high importance to Pakistan and an external force like PRC?
Balochistan is rich in a wide variety of resources like oil and minerals. Not just that, the port of Gwadar links itself to the one of the major trading and shipping route in the world which is the strait of Hormoz. China plans to invest in the building of a Gwadar port primarily because of its huge economic significance as a location connecting the Persian Gulf.
The take over of Hambantota and the recently signed Iran-Chinese deal in March clearly signifies China is proceeding in quick pace with expanding its BRI projects. The sixty-two billion dollar project deal signed in 2013 has resulted in major infrastructure developments such as railway, energy and transport projects, highways, etc. All these initiatives have been executed with the promise from Pakistan government that it will lead to job creation for Balochis.
The geographic aim behind this project is to link Gwadar with another equally volatile province of China, Xinjiang, with the sole goal of improving its trade connectivity to the entire Persian Gulf through Iran which is just an hour drive from Gwadar.
Economic and financial expansion is definitely one of the objectives of China investing its money, manpower and resources in these projects. CPEC is actually just one of the passages through which China is making a financial mark. There are a lot more similar projects that are in the process of beginning or completion in countries including nations like Netherlands.
As far as Gwadar is concerned, it has a great strategic importance too. Having another port like Gwadar under Chinese control is like blanketing India from its western side. Considering India-China differences and conflicted relation since 1962, it is not surprising if China is getting more close to Pakistan.
China will not leave an opportunity where it can gain a strategic upper hand over India. Though India has got into supporting the construction of Chabahar port in Iran, competitive relation is what is expected eventually between India and China. In fact the Chinese foot steps have become more closer with its interference in Sri Lanka which is just few miles away from the South-eastern coast of Tamil Nadu. India’s current standing is definitely challenged by China and in the due course, it will definitely make more attempts to become a giant in South Asia.
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