GWADAR: A Chinese Gibraltar

The Gwadar Deep Sea Port Project being developed in Balochistan at the crossroads of South Asia and West Asia is the largest developmental project being undertaken in Pakistan and kickstarts development in a hitherto undeveloped region and brings in an extraregional power—China. Its location at the entrance of the Gulf, the continued unstable environment in the Gulf region after the Gulf War and the emergence of the Central Asian States have enhanced the geostrategic significance of the port.

During the Cold War, the Soviet Union had realised its significance and was keen to gain access to Gwadar for an opening to the Indian Ocean. Pakistan has been interested in the project to gain strategic depth further to the southwest from its major ports in the KarachiBin Qasim Complex that has long been vulnerable to the Indian Navy as was reflected in 1971. China has enormous stakes in Gwadar and is involved with its construction and operation. The port is the lynchpin of the ChinaPakistan Economic Corridor, whose success depends on the economic viability of Gwadar Port.

The presence of an extraregional power in a geopolitically delicate region could disturb the existing balance of power within the region as well as in its vicinity. Islamabad views China`s presence at Gwadar as a security guarantee of Beijing`s commitment to Pakistan. The Chinese presence at Gwadar also provides China with a strategic outpost at the mouth of the Gulf, akin to Gibraltar in the Mediterranean, and enables it to interfere with the shipping toor from the Persian Gulf, besides providing it with a crucial foothold in South Asia. This book deals with different aspects of this Chinese ‘Gibraltar’.