In a strategic move, Pakistan and China are set to make headway towards developing a master plan for Gwadar Port as part of an economic corridor that envisages investment of $12 billion by Beijing. Officials of the two countries will take up the matter during talks in Beijing on February 17, where Pakistan’s team will be led by Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal, officials say. As part of the economic corridor that will turn Pakistan into a hub of regional cooperation, Gwadar Port will be connected through road, rail and fibre links to China to help enhance trade between the two countries. Oil and gas pipelines are also part of the economic corridor over the long run, which is expected to provide a much-needed boost to economic activities in insurgency-hit Baluchistan, according to the officials.

Under the short-term plan, Islamabad and Beijing want to develop Gwadar Port, whose control had already been given to China, in a bid to attract investment in different sectors to make it a hub of economic activities. Under this plan, an oil city will be set up at the port to meet fuel needs. However, the United States and India are not pleased with the handing over of Gwadar Port to China, which will enhance its presence in the sea. The government is also looking to revive the abandoned Coastal Oil Refinery at Gwadar, a project that had been shelved by China in 2009-10 after operations of the port were handed over to the Singapore Port Authority. A global recession compounded the problems, providing another reason to shelve the project.

The refinery, designed to have a maximum output of 60,000 barrels of oil per day, is part of China’s plan to invest $12 billion in multiple projects in Pakistan. Officials pointed out that the oil and gas pipelines depended on normalisation of relations between the US and Iran. Though Iran supplies oil and gas to Turkey, China and India, the US is piling on the pressure on Pakistan to stop it from importing energy from Tehran.

(omanobserver.om Feb 15, 2014)