ISLAMABAD: A leading American think tank has said that there is a high possibility that China may use Pakistan’s Gwadar deep-sea port to project military power in the Indian Ocean region.
Pakistan and China have been working on a multibillion-dollar economic corridor that requires them to jointly build a number of infrastructure and power projects.
Gwadar, which is located in Pakistan’s southwest, is considered vital part of the corridor project since it can help regional connectivity by providing a much shorter trade route to landlocked Afghanistan and other Central Asian economies by bringing them closer to sea lanes.
The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) said in its special report, “A Threshold Alliance: The China-Pakistan Military Relationship,” that Beijing had remained Islamabad’s most important strategic and defense partner since the end of the Cold War.
“What may appear as limited, contingency access closely overseen by the host nation can quickly evolve into basing,” the report said.
“There are several reasons why Gwadar has military utility for China,” it added. “The port is physically suited for basing, with a pier accommodating even the biggest PLA Navy vessels and an adjacent laydown yard for assembling military equipment and pre-positioning materials and supplies.”
The USIP maintained that Pakistan Navy craft, including Chinese-origin F-22P frigates, were regularly seen visiting the port.
It pointed out that as Pakistan inducted new submarines in addition to surface and coastal combat craft from China, its facilities, parts, and technicians could potentially be tasked to support portions of the PLA Navy fleet.
The report also said that Gwadar’s new airport and runway would be completed in 2023, which would be accommodative of China’s strategic airlift fleet.
“The conspicuous absence of commercial activity at Gwadar— which has raised the suspicions of expert observers— makes it easier for a naval footprint to increase without economic disruption and with greater concealment from foreign observation,” it said.
The report pointed out that China usually avoided getting into formal international groupings, though its military relationship with Pakistan was “approaching a threshold alliance.”
“The trajectory toward a military alliance is not … inevitable,” it added.
