Syeda Mazhar
Undoubtedly Pakistan is passing through another critical juncture of economic development especially, in the Baluchistan region. By linking Kashgar with Gwadar port through a network of roads and railway lines, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project has the potential to inject new life into the region’s economies.A 3,000-kilometer network of roads, railway lines, energy pipelines and fiber optic cables linking Kashgar in China’s Xinjiang province with Gwadar, a deep-sea port in Pakistan’s Baluchistan province, CPEC is an important part of China’s One-Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative. It promises economic and geo-strategic benefits to Pakistan and China as well as the region. The project promises rich rewards not just to Pakistan and China but to other South Asian countries and also countries in Central Asia. Yet, it has triggered apprehension in neighboring India.
China has been a major funder in the project. It has funded and constructed the Gwadar Port, making it the gateway of the corridor. In 2013, Pakistan handed over the management of the Gwadar Port to Chinese Company, Chinese Overseas Port Holdings for a period of 40 years. In April this year, the President of China, Xi Jinping announced to invest US$ 46 billion in the CPEC project. Dozens of deals worth billions of dollars fortune have been signed for construction and upgrades along the corridor’s route
For Pakistan’s economy, this project is termed as a “game changer”. Alongside bringing in funds to Pakistan’s investment-starved economy, the project will improve the country’s transport and energy infrastructure. It is predicted that the business at Gwadar Port, which has been slow so far, is likely to increase, boosting Pakistan’s chances of emerging as a regional transshipment hub. CPEC is a life-time development opportunity for Pakistan. The government and the people need to support the smooth implementation and sustainable operation of CPEC projects.
Pakistan faces acute energy problems. Pakistan’s total energy production is inadequate to meet the ever increasing demand. According to WAPDA, national power demand will reach 40,000MW by 2020. This problem poses a predicament for foreign companies to enter Pakistan.
Pakistan enjoys significant strategically geographical advantages. It is boarded by South Asia, Central Asia, the Arab World and China, and connects the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf. For China’s landlocked province, Xinjiang, this boosts the economy of this restive and economically underdeveloped province. Most importantly, CPEC provides Chinese trade with West Asia with a shorter route, providing Beijing with an alternate route for importing oil and other goods from West Asia and Africa, this reducing its dependence on the present route via the Straits of Malacc.
The CPEC project was basically designed by the Chinese to serve the geopolitical and strategic interests of the Chinese State and stimulate the economies of both China and Pakistan and growth rates through Keynesian economics during recession.
Apart from the obvious financial obstacles faced by the Chinese government in terms of the debt, loan and GDP per capita, there are security concerns of the Chinese engineers and other skilled labour force working in Pakistan. There have already been incidents of kidnappings of Chinese personnel by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan for ransom and other “favors”. Pakistan has deployed over 15000 military personnel to ensure the security of these Chinese workers.
Despite the benefits and the obvious impediments the regions is predicted to be reaping from the CPEC and the economic and defense co-operation is robust, including in the nuclear field. Co-operation over CPEC is expected to further cement the China-Pakistan bond, triggering concern in India. It has strategic concerns. Now, for over a decade, the strategic analysts have been drawing attention to China’s “String of Pearls,” a network of ports extending from its eastern coast to West Asia. They have debated on how China’s funding and construction/upgrading of these ports aims at gaining access to naval facilities and perhaps even establish naval and military bases here in the future. India fears that this strategy will give China permanent access to the Indian Ocean, strengthening Chinas vital shipping routes for oil imports from the Persian Gulf.
India faces trepidation that China’s String of Pearls is aimed at encircling and containing India. Gwadar port is said to be the western-most “pearl” in this “string”. Its strategic location near the mouth of the Straits of Hormuz is of concern to India as 63 percent of India’s oil imports are transported via this waterway. China-Pakistan presence in this region is of critical importance for Delhi; especially with Beijing gaining management control of this port for 40 years has deepened India’s anxieties as it has the potential to undermine India’s energy and economics security.
India’s strategic analysts predict that CPEC heightens the threat China poses to India’s defense. In the event of a military confrontation with India or if coming to Islamabad’s in an India-Pakistan war, CPEC’s infrastructure will facilitate Chinese deployment of troops rapidly to India’s western front, as well.
India needs to be “magnanimous” and support CPEC for what it can do for Pakistan’s economy, Jacob said, drawing attention to the employment it can generate and the stability it could bring. “Ultimately,” he pointed out, “a stable Pakistan that can be weaned away from religious extremism is in both Chinese and Indian interests.”
