Karachi, Pakistan – While China’s investment in the construction of the Port of Gwadar in Western Pakistan has for almost a decade fueled speculation that Beijing’s ultimate goal is to turn the port into a Chinese version of Gibraltar (The Newspaper Today, May 21, 2001), it is far more likely that Beijing would send its warships to Karachi if it were to seek a facility in Pakistan to support its forces. With seven port calls including three in the past three years, Karachi is the single most visited port by the PLAN during its 25 years of conducting overseas goodwill cruises and exercises with foreign navies. The PLAN is also now a regular participant in the Pakistani sponsored multi-lateral AMAN exercises, having sent warships to AMAN-07 and AMAN-09. Additionally, substantial ship construction and repair facilities are available at the Pakistan Naval Dockyard and the Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works. Karachi is also where the Pakistani Navy is basing its three Chinese built F22P frigates, while the fourth, which will also be based at Karachi, is being built in Pakistan with Chinese assistance [2]. These warships, which most likely enjoy some level of parts-commonality with PLAN frigates, along with the extensive repair facilities available in Karachi, make Karachi a strong candidate for a friendly port where China could repair any ships damaged while operating in the Indian Ocean. The possibility of PLAN ships conducting repairs at Karachi was stated as fact by Senior Captain Xie Dongpei, a staff officer at PLAN Headquarters in June 2009 (The Straits Times Online, June 24, 2009)
