AhsanAmin
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We (Pakistanis) always talk about geopolitical importance of our country. Our country, indeed, is located at a very strategic position but we have failed as a nation to leverage our geopolitical importance. In fact, we suffered from a geopolitical curse due to Afghan war and its aftermath. Though defeat of USSR was a high point in our history, we have continued to suffer as a nation due to deteriorating law and order condition as an outfall of war and fighting in Afghanistan for past three decades. Due to lack of order and peace, foreign investors shunned our country and our talent, brains and capital continued to leave our country. Today, when we look back at the past three decades, we realize that several nations who had per capita income smaller than ours, have become economic tigers while our destiny continues to remain uncertain. It will not be wrong to call these past three decades as lost decades in the history of our country.
Pakistan’s unrealized geopolitical importance stems from its strategic location at the closest land routes to the sea from land locked Afghanistan, Central Asian states and Western China. If we can develop these routes as major channels for exports and imports from these landlocked countries, we can change the destiny of our nation and truly benefit from our strategic location in the region. Throughout the human history cities that were on bustling trade routes thrived with great business and economic activity. In the recent human history when maritime trade increased exponentially, the port cities became the centers of business activity in larger regions.
Thanks to Chinese interest and help, we are developing Gawadar and building trade corridors on the routes to Western China. To develop full potential of Gawadar port, we have to link it through land and rail routes to Afghanistan and Central Asian States. The right way to realize our geopolitical importance will be through creating economic opportunities for these countries through our own country. A trade route will benefit Balochistan (which is heart of Pakistan), for Afghanistan, not to mention central Asian states themselves. It will bring all these people of different countries closer forever. If we really want to develop Gawadar as a rival to regional port states of Dubai, Singapore etc, we can automatically do it by linking it through a modern highway link to central Asian states. In fact, the ports of Singapore, and Dubai have to work very hard and do not have very special natural geographical advantages like our country has, as a link to many landlocked Central Asian states. If we act wisely now, we can leverage our geography towards great benefit to our country and also develop Gawadar as a modern port which we have been trying to do for past fifteen years. This was exactly the road USSR always wanted to connect their central Asian states to Arabian sea. If we can successfully complete this project, Gawadar could be a more thriving city than Dubai or Singapore after twenty years. most central Asian states have to rely on very difficult routes to sea. We can make an eight or even ten lane highway with half of the lanes reserved for large trucks to transport containers from Gawadar to Central Asian states. There would be a single highway in Pakistan but would bifurcate in northern areas for the shortest route to each central Asian state. We can ask Chinese companies for funding this large project and this project can easily be run on commercial basis which would be great for our country. The government should make a decision to work out all aspects of this project and ask Chinese companies for funding as they are looking for profitable opportunities abroad with their piles of accumulatedcash.
The largest contribution to our economy will not be from tolls or port taxes, it will be from huge trade activity in the port city of Gawadar and cities upcountry. We can take the example of Karachi which is the largest business center of Pakistan only because it is the only port city from where imports go upcountry and exports have to be sent to Karachi to go to foreign countries. Since Karachi became a center of export/import activity, it gave businessmen of Karachi great insight about where to invest their money. They started to import what was needed in the country and distributed it to different large cities of Pakistan. Then many of those importers set up factories where they realized potential for profitable economic activity in the country that could substitute for foreign imports. The point is that cities that thrive on trade create huge opportunities for their residents in all of the trade, industries and services and intelligent businessmen start to make so many profitable investments in trade and industry. If a port city channels the exports and imports of 3-5 countries, there will be huge opportunities for our businessmen and industrialists. Some businessmen will set up industries to produce different goods that would substitute for the imports from abroad and simply ship it through the highway. It is a win-win for every country involved since we would be buying their exports. I would also like to mention that if we do things right, any numbers for trade activity I give here will change drastically after just a few years. We have seen this phenomenon in trade between several countries that when they open up their trade starts at a mere 1-2 billion dollars but blows to 25-30 billion dollars after five years. We just have to do things right with an honest intention to make sure that we consider what is needed by Afghanistan and Central Asian Countries and how to provide them right facilities to grow their trade through our country. We will have to provide the right services and incentives and do some proper planning and I think we can make this highway a modern "silk route."
While connecting to Central Asian states, we really have to include Uzbekistan in our trade route. Uzbek are resource rich and investors all over the world vie to invest in profitable opportunities in their country. Uzbekistan has remained very neutral in world politics and strictly continues to protect its own interests. I think any other trade route to Uzbekistan other than Gawadar connecting it with sea would be unnecessarily larger and unnatural. Any unnecessary route through hard to pass mountainous areas would probably deter Uzbek people from using that highway and it has to be considered very carefully considering what is a good and shortest route for Uzbeks. I think if we can branch the proposed highway somewhere in KPK, we can avoid some very mountainous regions and have a short and smooth highway to Uzbekistan.
We will also have to work out very clearly what we want to keep in our hands and what we can handover to Chinese in Gawadar. What would be Chinese investment in building the port and various terminals? Of course the terminals handling shipments to China can be controlled by Chinese friends but if there is a plan for more terminals, can we keep those terminals for other countries with Pakistanis. Who would operate the warehouses that will store cargo in transit. Could it be done by locals on commercial basis? Could there be a plan for some industrial estate around Gawadar and who would develop and operate it. Would locals/residents/investors get some incentive to set up industries? In a comprehensive plan, really a lot of peripheral issues like some of the above would have to be considered very carefully. I am sure many policy experts can work out most details carefully by themselves.
Alas all of this might remain unrealized if there is no peace in Afghanistan. So one thing we have to truly consider in making our foreign policy is that we have to promote peace in our part of the world and anything that takes any country in the region towards any conflict or instability, has to be avoided and rather actively discouraged by our foreign policy. And it also means that state tries to promote very good relations with all neighbors and actively uses its foreign policy to prevent anything in these countries that could result in any conflict in the region. Similarly promoting conflict or instabilities among our neighbors will damage us because of related fallout in our own society in form of terrorism, sectarianism and lack of tolerance. And we will be target of antagonistic policies of our neighbors that will follow as a result of our unfriendly policies, and our resources will have to be spent in combating the threat from the hostile enemy as a result of our conflict promoting adverse policies. And the resources we spend in preparing for possible combat would be better spent in educating and giving the right skills to our own population. Without peace in Afghanistan, we cannot realize the geopolitical importance of our country.
Most natural trading partners of any country are those countries bordering it. Prosperity in neighboring countries, generally, means that there would be more chances and opportunities for trade with these countries, implying that it would generally result in more economic activity within our own country. When easy trade routes to Afghanistan and Central Asian states are available, they will benefit from increased economic activity and greater foreign investment and it will mean large opportunities for trading community in our country and every city on the trade route will greatly thrive.
I am sure our present government is aware of the need for developing trade route to Central Asian States and our Prime Minister recently visited Uzbekistan which is a great sign. I hope the government takes urgent and well thought steps to materialize these rail and road links to change the destiny of people in the region and materialize the Geopolitical importance of our country.
Source https://defence.pk/threads/chinese-president-to-visit-pakistan-hammer-out-46-billion-deal.370994/
Pakistan’s unrealized geopolitical importance stems from its strategic location at the closest land routes to the sea from land locked Afghanistan, Central Asian states and Western China. If we can develop these routes as major channels for exports and imports from these landlocked countries, we can change the destiny of our nation and truly benefit from our strategic location in the region. Throughout the human history cities that were on bustling trade routes thrived with great business and economic activity. In the recent human history when maritime trade increased exponentially, the port cities became the centers of business activity in larger regions.
Thanks to Chinese interest and help, we are developing Gawadar and building trade corridors on the routes to Western China. To develop full potential of Gawadar port, we have to link it through land and rail routes to Afghanistan and Central Asian States. The right way to realize our geopolitical importance will be through creating economic opportunities for these countries through our own country. A trade route will benefit Balochistan (which is heart of Pakistan), for Afghanistan, not to mention central Asian states themselves. It will bring all these people of different countries closer forever. If we really want to develop Gawadar as a rival to regional port states of Dubai, Singapore etc, we can automatically do it by linking it through a modern highway link to central Asian states. In fact, the ports of Singapore, and Dubai have to work very hard and do not have very special natural geographical advantages like our country has, as a link to many landlocked Central Asian states. If we act wisely now, we can leverage our geography towards great benefit to our country and also develop Gawadar as a modern port which we have been trying to do for past fifteen years. This was exactly the road USSR always wanted to connect their central Asian states to Arabian sea. If we can successfully complete this project, Gawadar could be a more thriving city than Dubai or Singapore after twenty years. most central Asian states have to rely on very difficult routes to sea. We can make an eight or even ten lane highway with half of the lanes reserved for large trucks to transport containers from Gawadar to Central Asian states. There would be a single highway in Pakistan but would bifurcate in northern areas for the shortest route to each central Asian state. We can ask Chinese companies for funding this large project and this project can easily be run on commercial basis which would be great for our country. The government should make a decision to work out all aspects of this project and ask Chinese companies for funding as they are looking for profitable opportunities abroad with their piles of accumulatedcash.
The largest contribution to our economy will not be from tolls or port taxes, it will be from huge trade activity in the port city of Gawadar and cities upcountry. We can take the example of Karachi which is the largest business center of Pakistan only because it is the only port city from where imports go upcountry and exports have to be sent to Karachi to go to foreign countries. Since Karachi became a center of export/import activity, it gave businessmen of Karachi great insight about where to invest their money. They started to import what was needed in the country and distributed it to different large cities of Pakistan. Then many of those importers set up factories where they realized potential for profitable economic activity in the country that could substitute for foreign imports. The point is that cities that thrive on trade create huge opportunities for their residents in all of the trade, industries and services and intelligent businessmen start to make so many profitable investments in trade and industry. If a port city channels the exports and imports of 3-5 countries, there will be huge opportunities for our businessmen and industrialists. Some businessmen will set up industries to produce different goods that would substitute for the imports from abroad and simply ship it through the highway. It is a win-win for every country involved since we would be buying their exports. I would also like to mention that if we do things right, any numbers for trade activity I give here will change drastically after just a few years. We have seen this phenomenon in trade between several countries that when they open up their trade starts at a mere 1-2 billion dollars but blows to 25-30 billion dollars after five years. We just have to do things right with an honest intention to make sure that we consider what is needed by Afghanistan and Central Asian Countries and how to provide them right facilities to grow their trade through our country. We will have to provide the right services and incentives and do some proper planning and I think we can make this highway a modern "silk route."
While connecting to Central Asian states, we really have to include Uzbekistan in our trade route. Uzbek are resource rich and investors all over the world vie to invest in profitable opportunities in their country. Uzbekistan has remained very neutral in world politics and strictly continues to protect its own interests. I think any other trade route to Uzbekistan other than Gawadar connecting it with sea would be unnecessarily larger and unnatural. Any unnecessary route through hard to pass mountainous areas would probably deter Uzbek people from using that highway and it has to be considered very carefully considering what is a good and shortest route for Uzbeks. I think if we can branch the proposed highway somewhere in KPK, we can avoid some very mountainous regions and have a short and smooth highway to Uzbekistan.
We will also have to work out very clearly what we want to keep in our hands and what we can handover to Chinese in Gawadar. What would be Chinese investment in building the port and various terminals? Of course the terminals handling shipments to China can be controlled by Chinese friends but if there is a plan for more terminals, can we keep those terminals for other countries with Pakistanis. Who would operate the warehouses that will store cargo in transit. Could it be done by locals on commercial basis? Could there be a plan for some industrial estate around Gawadar and who would develop and operate it. Would locals/residents/investors get some incentive to set up industries? In a comprehensive plan, really a lot of peripheral issues like some of the above would have to be considered very carefully. I am sure many policy experts can work out most details carefully by themselves.
Alas all of this might remain unrealized if there is no peace in Afghanistan. So one thing we have to truly consider in making our foreign policy is that we have to promote peace in our part of the world and anything that takes any country in the region towards any conflict or instability, has to be avoided and rather actively discouraged by our foreign policy. And it also means that state tries to promote very good relations with all neighbors and actively uses its foreign policy to prevent anything in these countries that could result in any conflict in the region. Similarly promoting conflict or instabilities among our neighbors will damage us because of related fallout in our own society in form of terrorism, sectarianism and lack of tolerance. And we will be target of antagonistic policies of our neighbors that will follow as a result of our unfriendly policies, and our resources will have to be spent in combating the threat from the hostile enemy as a result of our conflict promoting adverse policies. And the resources we spend in preparing for possible combat would be better spent in educating and giving the right skills to our own population. Without peace in Afghanistan, we cannot realize the geopolitical importance of our country.
Most natural trading partners of any country are those countries bordering it. Prosperity in neighboring countries, generally, means that there would be more chances and opportunities for trade with these countries, implying that it would generally result in more economic activity within our own country. When easy trade routes to Afghanistan and Central Asian states are available, they will benefit from increased economic activity and greater foreign investment and it will mean large opportunities for trading community in our country and every city on the trade route will greatly thrive.
I am sure our present government is aware of the need for developing trade route to Central Asian States and our Prime Minister recently visited Uzbekistan which is a great sign. I hope the government takes urgent and well thought steps to materialize these rail and road links to change the destiny of people in the region and materialize the Geopolitical importance of our country.
Source https://defence.pk/threads/chinese-president-to-visit-pakistan-hammer-out-46-billion-deal.370994/
