China takes control of Pakistani port
Source: AFP |
February 19, 2013, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
China took control of Pakistan's Gwadar Port yesterday as part of its drive to secure energy and maritime routes.
"The contract of operation of Gwadar Port is formally given to China. Today, the agreement is transferred from the Port of Singapore Authority to China Overseas Ports Holding Company Limited," President Asif Ali Zardari announced.
"The award of this contract opens new opportunities for our people ... It gives new impetus to Pakistan-China relations," Zardari added in a speech broadcast live on television.
On January 30 the Pakistani Cabinet approved the transfer of Gwadar, currently a commercial failure cut off from the national road network, from PSA International to the Chinese company.
The Pakistanis pitched the deal as offering an energy and trade corridor to connect China to the Arabian Sea and Strait of Hormuz, a gateway for a third of the world's traded oil, overland through an expanded Karakoram Highway.
Experts say it would cut thousands of kilometers off the distance which oil and gas imports from Africa and the Middle East have to travel to reach China.
China paid about 75 percent of the initial US$250 million used to build the port but in 2007 PSA International won a 40-year operating lease.
On February 6 Indian Defense Minister AK Antony said New Delhi was concerned at Pakistan's decision to transfer management of the deep-sea port to China. However, Pakistan foreign ministry spokesman Moazzam Ahmad Khan dismissed those concerns last week, telling reporters: "This is not something that any other country should have any reason to be concerned about."
"The contract of operation of Gwadar Port is formally given to China. Today, the agreement is transferred from the Port of Singapore Authority to China Overseas Ports Holding Company Limited," President Asif Ali Zardari announced.
"The award of this contract opens new opportunities for our people ... It gives new impetus to Pakistan-China relations," Zardari added in a speech broadcast live on television.
On January 30 the Pakistani Cabinet approved the transfer of Gwadar, currently a commercial failure cut off from the national road network, from PSA International to the Chinese company.
The Pakistanis pitched the deal as offering an energy and trade corridor to connect China to the Arabian Sea and Strait of Hormuz, a gateway for a third of the world's traded oil, overland through an expanded Karakoram Highway.
Experts say it would cut thousands of kilometers off the distance which oil and gas imports from Africa and the Middle East have to travel to reach China.
China paid about 75 percent of the initial US$250 million used to build the port but in 2007 PSA International won a 40-year operating lease.
On February 6 Indian Defense Minister AK Antony said New Delhi was concerned at Pakistan's decision to transfer management of the deep-sea port to China. However, Pakistan foreign ministry spokesman Moazzam Ahmad Khan dismissed those concerns last week, telling reporters: "This is not something that any other country should have any reason to be concerned about."
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