Rarely, your strength becomes a weakness; the same is the case with Gwadar. The game-changer is not being digested by those who want to eye us just like a third world nation. Gwadar is single due to its geostrategic location, socioeconomic-depth, and a harbinger of prosperity. The port is deeper, and the region is the fertilizer than the UAE and Chahbahar with a strong geopolitical and geostrategic location that centers the world. A judicious choice of Chinese to make it the focal terminal of the One Belt One Road initiative to rule the world economy. Its dream of becoming the world’s economic leader by lowering the productive- input and cutting short of the long logistic route is only possible through Gwadar. Chahbahar port can augment the Gwadar port but can never be an alternative to cost-efficient smart Gwadar seaport due to its depth, cargo handling capacity, and geographic location. However, Jable Ali port is a competitor and rightly feeling a threat from it.
If you eye the region with a tourist and aesthetic taste, the marine life, green turtles, tropical climate, vegetative capacity, golden virgin beaches, and land escape fascinate everyone. Kund Malir, Oarmara, Pasni , West bay Gwadar, Land escape from Pishukan to Gunz , Daran and Jewani have the greatest natural pull. From Pishukan to Gunz you feel like moving in sweet dreams. If someone visits Gwadar and does not watch the enchanting and awesome beauty of sinking sun into the Arabian ocean, Gwadar’s visit does not complete. This iconic daily activity never stops you from reoccurring visits. The ever-changing multi-shades of clear-sea-water, due to an optical illusion, will invite you to say, “Subhan Allah. ” This relax-small-town sleeps early after evening except for the newly developed Cornish, which may keep you engage with its romance till mid might.
Nani Mandir Hund Milir If you have ever been involved in import-export, you must know the minimum voyage time for a cargo container from Pakistan to Europe is 14 days; the Gwadar port will cut short it by almost to half. Upcountry is almost connected to Gwadar by M-8, which will enable you to drive down to Gwadar in 14 hours from Lahore. By using Gwadar port, you don’t need to use feeder vessels for the third country’s mother vessel in Salala, Mandara, Colombo, and Dubai. Only importers, exporters, and economists know the value when your cargo reaches the destination in half of the time. A container from the Western part of China reaches Dubai in 26 days, whereas it will be there in 6 days by using Gwadar port. The port has also announced a maximum demurrage grace period of 19 days.
Apart from tourism and logistics, this area is full of the education industry’s potentials, health sector, feed the gulf region, mining, livestock, steel, scrap, food and beverage, agriculture, oil, and gas real estate power generation. Govt has already announced the Gwadar tax and duty-free zone. DG Gwadar, President, GCCI, and director Baluchistan Investment Board, Mr. Naveed Jaan Kalmati, told that the whole Gwadar district would soon be the duty and tax-free to support the national industrial sectors.
Nani Mender, situated at Kund Malir , the midpoint of curly amazing coastal highway, is a very important Hindu community place. Hinglaj Mata also known as Hinglaj Devi, Hingula Devi, or Nani Devi, is one of 51 Shakti Pettahs of Hindu Dharm, only the second in Pakistan. The Devi has been resting in a mountain-cavern on the bank of the unknown-centuries old Hangul river. The land escape of the area is spectacular.
But if everything is going fine with? Unfortunately, No! There are many bridges left to come across yet, leading people to in a state of hesitation. Let’s us discuss them one by one:
The pace of Gwadar’s work has been slower since the present Govt got into power. The comments ofthe federal minister’s statement, Mr. Razzaq Dawood, maybe resonated that the CPEC had been shelved. This substantiates the speculations that there was some lack of trust between China and Pakistan to revisit some agreements, the Khan Govt feels unfair. Some top took the heavy kick-backs -notches of the last regime are also echoed.
People having an ability to analyze feel that hierarchy of preferences between establishment and Govt is reverse. The govt sees Gwadar economically No. one and strategically at No. 2, whereas the establishment’s priority is vice-versa. Especially keeping the emerging political affairs of the Gulf region, they might be under some strategic compulsions. Forty-five thousand acres cantonment in Gwadar and a recent decision to shift our navel hub from Karachi to Gwadar also substantiate this theory. However, some analysts hold the opinion that Govt should not put all eggs in one basket.
Our enemies don’t want to see us growing. They are doing everything to keep Pakistan and Baluchistan underdeveloped so that the people’s sentiments could be exploited whenever needed. Pakistani borders with Afghanistan and India are still unsecured. In the recent past, we also have had reservations from our Southern border.
Security measures are now wonderful, and Pak-Army is doing its best. We, however, are paying some cost too because of the mechanism. Baloch cultures and traditions must be given value. This is a factor creating resentment in our brothers. The use of security Scanners can bring the level of complaints down. Hopefully, the city’s proposed fence will allow them to move freely in the city without any security checks and complaints.
Financial barriers are a curse we are deepening day by day; hence the Gwadar is. Why should China spend on our civil works? Our budget hardly meets the demands of our survival. The only hope left with is Govt owned central business district (CBD), which carries billions of dollars potential.
By Ghulam Murtaza(GM)
The author is a CPEC management consultant and Honorary Secretary, Gwadar Builders and Developers Association. However, his thoughts are purely personal and not an official narrative.
