The chairman of the parliamentary committee for China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Mushahid Hussain Syed on Saturday said, "The Gwadar Port was the pivotal point of the corridor." Talking to media, he said maritime economy is crucial to the country's economic state of affairs. Mushahid Hussain also said that the conference will be attended by delegations from China, Malaysia, Turkey, Iran and the USA. Vice Admiral Iftikhar Rao (Retd) said, "A maritime security force had been formulated to protect Gwadar Port and CPEC projects. This force will be equipped with standard coastal and blue water defence and surveillance equipment."
"The land route, he said, has already been catered to by the ground troops of Pakistan army, and a special battalion of Pakistan navy special services troops has been deployed to guard the coast," he said. Mushahid Hussain added that, "As many as 12,000 army troops had been designated for the land route. Punjab has raised 5,000 policemen and Sindh has raised 2000 police personnel to guard the land route; so there is a comprehensive plan in place."
"The maritime economy was an important aspect of this whole project and Pakistan would provide fool-proof security to safe-guard our mutual efforts," he said. "In 2012, with the new administration under President Xi Jin Ping, the Silk Road Economic Belt project was accelerated and steps were taken to actualise it. Now the whole world wants to be a part of this project," he said.
"Except for India, a lot of countries want to participate. And China wants the whole region to prosper along with itself," he added. "Pakistan navy wanted to develop the port long before the era of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. But it was not conceived due to the financial state of affairs. Instead a naval base was subsequently developed at Ormara," Rao added. He said the aerial support was very crucial for reconnaissance and strike backup, because the enemy could strike at the naval defence installations.
Mushahid Hussain Syed said that, "As Afghanistan was a landlocked country, CPEC could open new avenues of trade for Afghanistan and it will largely benefit." "China wants to develop its eastern parts and the underdeveloped areas of Pakistan will also benefit," he said. Vice Admiral said, "Pakistan needed to realise the importance of maritime economy from countries of South East Asia like Japan, Singapore and Malaysia, who have overturned their economic state of affairs from maritime trade." Mushahid Hussain Syed said, "Pakistan was a sovereign state with independent foreign policy and we had fought an active battle against insurgency with positive results. Anyone having problems with Pakistan should move to India."