Summary Gwadar has planned capacity of 300 to 400 million tons of cargo.
(Dunya News)- Iran’s Chabahar port lacks potential to progress in absence of technical and economic succour from its ‘sister Gwadar port’ and the former cannot culminate to the level of the latter without shared interests. In bid to reap the fruits of augmenting economic activity in region, both Gwadar and Chabahar can become facilitators for each other.
Gwadar’s geopolitical location-- close to the Straits of Hormuz-- awards it a whip hand over remaining ports across region as it would give Pakistan complete control of energy routes.
Read also: Iran inaugurates new port at Chabahar
Pakistan’s Gwadar outflanks Iran’s Chabahar in myriad terms. The cost and time to transport cargo trade to Iran’s Chabahar are ten times more than Gwadar as planned capacity of former with 300 to 400 million tons of annual cargo comprehensively outmaneuvers latter who has capacity of barely 10 to 20 million tons of annual cargo.
Owing to the fact that Pakistan is blessed with 700 kilometers long coastline, Gwadar has potential to be expanded as much as one would desire in the future pretext of soaring trade. Chabahar—contrary to that—does not enjoy any such luxury. Furthermore, Iran will never allow India’s Central Asian dream to be juxtapositioned vis-à-vis Tehran’s regional interests.
Read also: Historic day for country as Gwadar Port gets operational
Pakistan has also made it overtly clear to China that Gwadar venture is purely based on shared economic interests. Strategists in Islamabad would not allow China to use Gwadar for military purpose as it could possibly hinder the economic uplift of the country.
One can sense a prosperous Pakistan in the days to come.
Story published in Roznama Dunya, Decemeber 6th, 2017
