Gwadar vs Chabahar

When Iran, India and Afghanistan got together for a joint collaboration in opening the Chabahar Port, many Pakistanis feared that this deal was aimed at jeopardising the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. Things are, however, not as gloomy as they appear. The only way the CPEC can be destroyed is due to our own homegrown petty political interests. We cannot and must not compare a maritime juggernaut like the Gwadar Port and fringe dumping ports like Chabahar.

Data reveals that the maximum planned capacity of the Chabahar Port is 10-12 million tons of cargo per anum. There are 212 notified ports of India which handle an aggregate cargo of 500 million tons per anum. Compared to that, Gwadar alone will have the capacity to handle 400 million tons of cargo per annum. Additionally the          western most coastal town of Pakistan will become the sister city of Hong Kong. Forget about Chabahar, Gwadar is the name of the game; all else is petty propaganda aimed at blocking our way to prosperity. We should be determined to take the CPEC to its final destination at all costs. For this we have to unite ourselves and keep all political, religious and other differences away.

Group Captain (r) Saeed Nawaz Khan

Rawalpindi