Pakistan is losing ground to India and Iran as the two countries are quite at an advanced stage in developing the infrastructure in and around the Iranian port Chabahar, which can compete with Pakistan's Gwadar port in accessing the landlocked Central Asian Republics (CARs) and Afghanistan.
Sources told Business Recorder that if the Gwadar port remained without links with the rest of the country through road and rail, Chabahar port would play a major role for trade among Iran, India, CARs and Afghanistan. India is keen to bypass Pakistan in transit trade with Iran and other countries and Chabahar would be playing a pivotal role in India's quest for doing so, sources said.
Strategically, Gwadar port has an easier access than Chabahar for both Afghanistan and CARs. Though India's trade through Chabahar would remain costlier than trade through Gwadar with Central Asia and other regional countries, yet the Iranian port provides a competitive alternative, according to sources. Pakistan would face serious trouble in diverting the trade through Chabahar to Gwadar port, sources added. Due to Chinese investment in Gwadar, India has felt threatened. China also invested heavily in some ports each in Myanmar and Bangladesh.
With the establishment of Gwadar port in Pakistan, India has felt that China is encircling India from three sides, sources said. That was the basic factor in starting India to invest heavily on the development of link roads to the Iranian Chabahar port, which could give another possible access to the countries in Central Asia and Afghanistan. According to sources, India is keen to cooperate with regional countries to frustrate Pakistan's efforts to turn Gwadar into a regional hub for international trade both in commodities and energy.
Sources said that the development of infrastructure in and around Gwadar was the responsibility of different ministries and autonomous bodies. Due to some bureaucratic hurdles and poor law and order situation, generally in Balochistan province, the much-needed connectivity of the port with the rest of the country's rail and road links could not be done on priority basis. Though the first ship arrived at the port this month, the port's connectivity with main roads and rail links is still in a vacuum, sources added.
According to them, Gwadar is essentially a natural deep-sea port. It is an important infrastructure sector project. The port should not become prey to bureaucratic hurdles, otherwise Pakistan would lose hugely to India and Iran as the two countries are working on war footing to attract trade through Chabahar.
Some officials are of the view that India cannot take the advantage of Chabahar for a long period, as the cost of doing trade through this port is much higher than possible trade through Gwadar with Central Asia and Afghanistan. But, Indian efforts in the region could harm Pakistan's business interests, sources added.
Gwadar port is strategically located and the traders could get a lot of benefit in having easy access to the port. Karachi port is surrounded by the city and access to port becomes a challenging task. If one looks at the international scenario, India has shifted Mumbai port from its old locality due to the burgeoning metropolis surrounding the port. A similar example is also the shifting of a port in Bangkok.