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| Gwadar Port (Image: Wiki Commons) |
By Ankit Panda
A Chinese state-owned firm officially signed a multi-decade lease for control of the Gwadar Port free-trade zone.
On Wednesday, Chinese Overseas Ports Holding Company Ltd (COPHCL), a Chinese state-owned enterprise, officially took control of the strategically important port at Gwadar in Pakistan. The Chinese firm officially signed a 40-year lease for over 2,000 acres of land in Gwadar, marking a milestone in the implementation phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a major bilateral initiative to build transportation and other infrastructure along the length of Pakistan, connecting the country’s Arabian Sea coast with the Himalayan border with China. CPEC was unveiled during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s April 2015 state visit to Pakistan, where Gwadar was high on the agenda.
Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reform Ahsan Iqbal handed over the lease to Wang Xiaodao, the vice chairman of China’s National Development and Reform Commission. Gwadar is a designated free-trade zone by the Pakistani government. The designation will last for 23 years. Additionally, because of Gwadar’s location in the restive southern Pakistani province of Balochistan, the Pakistani government has created a protection force for Chinese workers who will be working on CPEC projects, including at Gwadar.
The security situation in Balochistan is a concern for China, which wants to avoid CPEC projects and Chinese contractors potentially facing attacks. On Sunday, just days before the port hand-over, Pakistan’s chief of naval staff, Admiral Mohammad Zakaullah, said that the Pakistani Navy would also protect Gwadar “against all asymmetric threats under the prevalent precarious internal and external security environment.”
Read the full story at The Diplomat