BEIJING: China has not asked for military access to Pakistan’s Chinese-funded, deep-water port of Gwadar, a senior Pakistani rear admiral said on Friday, amid persistent speculation in India and the United States it could become a Chinese naval base.
Gwadar, in the southwestern province of Baluchistan, is the crown jewel of China’s $60 billion investment in Belt and Road Initiative projects in Pakistan.
The plan is to turn Gwadar into a trans-shipment hub and mega-port to be built alongside special economic zones from which export-focused industries will ship goods worldwide. A web of energy pipelines, roads and rail links will connect Gwadar to China’s western regions.
Last year the Pentagon singled out Pakistan as a possible location for a future Chinese military base, though China has said that is pure speculation. Diplomatic and security sources see Gwadar as the likely location.
Speaking at the Xiangshan Forum in Beijing, which China styles as its answer to the annual Shangri-La Dialogue security forum in Singapore, Rear Admiral Javaid Iqbal, Navy Secretary of the Pakistan Navy, said Gwadar is a “significant addition to the regional maritime landscape.”
“Let me emphasize that the Gwadar port is purely a commercial venture and has no military overtones,” he told the forum.
“Suitably located outside the potentially risky and confined waters of the Gulf, Gwadar has the potential to act not only as a transit port for China and Central Asia but also a trans-shipment port impacting the prosperity of the entire region,” Iqbal added.
Speaking later to Reuters, he said he was very specific about the non-military nature of the port.
“The Gwadar port has no military dimension. It will be just a commercial port,” Iqbal said. “The Pakistan navy will maintain a presence to ensure maritime security, to ensure the security of the port.”
“The geopolitical debate that somehow goes on in the media about Gwadar being used as a foreign military base is not correct at all.”
Asked whether China had specifically asked for military access, he answered: “No, not at all.”
China opened its first overseas military base, which it formally calls a logistics facility, in the Horn of Africa country Djibouti last year.
Djibouti’s position on the northwestern edge of the Indian Ocean has fueled worries in India that it would become another of China’s “string of pearls” of military alliances and assets ringing India, including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.
China has repeatedly downplayed expectations it could be about to embark on a plan to build military bases around the world, even as it ramps up an impressive military modernization program.
China not asked for military access to Gwadar, Pakistan admiral says
China not asked for military access to Gwadar, Pakistan admiral says
- Gwadar, in the southwestern province of Baluchistan, is the crown jewel of China’s $60 billion investment in Belt and Road Initiative projects in Pakistan
- “The Gwadar port is purely a commercial venture and has no military overtones,” admiral Javaid Iqbal, Navy Secretary of the Pakistan Navy told a forum in Singapore
Pakistan PM takes notice of passenger offloading issue, forms committee to streamline immigration
- Several passengers complained last month of being offloaded at airports despite having genuine travel documents
- Committee comprising IT minister to be led by minister for overseas Pakistanis, submit report to PM within three weeks
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has taken notice of reports of arbitrary offloading of Pakistani passengers at various airports and has constituted a 14-member committee to streamline immigration procedures, the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis said this week.
The development took place after several passengers last month complained they were being offloaded at various Pakistani airports despite carrying valid travel documents, drawing public ire on social media platforms.
These reports coincided with Islamabad’s crackdown on illegal immigration, which gained significant attention in Pakistan after the arrest of several Pakistani and foreign nationals at airports with forged documents in recent years.
As per a notification by the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis seen by Arab News dated Dec. 15, Sharif has formed a 14-member committee comprising the federal IT minister, state minister for overseas Pakistanis, and secretaries of both ministries. The committee will be led by the federal minister for overseas Pakistanis.
“A committee comprising the following members has been constituted to deliberate upon and implement measures for eliminating and minimizing human discretionary elements in the issuance and renewal of the Protectorate of Emigrants (POE) stamp for bona fide emigrants proceeding abroad,” the notification reads.
A POE stamp is a mandatory government endorsement on a Pakistani passport that is required by a citizen traveling abroad for employment.
The committee’s terms of reference (ToRs) include suggesting a “workable and end-to-end digitized process” for online issuance of POE stamps. It has also been tasked to undertake measures to develop a system to facilitate the online renewal of POE stamps.
The committee will suggest a mechanism to monitor workers’ satisfaction with the issuance, renewal of POE stamps and related immigration clearance arrangements.
“[Provide] recommendations for any other related measures which can improve the existing POE arrangements and bring them in line with international best practices,” it added.
The notification said the committee will finalize its findings within three weeks and submit a report to the prime minister.
Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi last month urged authorities not to offload passengers with valid travel documents.
Pakistan has also intensified its crackdown against individuals accused of exploiting visas to solicit money in Saudi Arabia.
Officials have warned the practice is damaging the country’s image and could affect genuine visa seekers, including religious pilgrims.
