Gwadar port
Topic: World Transport and Communication · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Gwadar is a deep-sea port on Pakistan's Makran coast in Balochistan province, near the Gulf of Oman. A deep-sea port has water deep enough for very large ships. China built Gwadar and runs it. It is the southern end of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which links western China to the Arabian Sea. This gives China a route to the sea that avoids the Malacca Strait. India watches the port closely for strategic reasons.
Example
CPEC (2015) starts at Kashgar in Xinjiang, crosses the Khunjerab Pass, runs through Gilgit-Baltistan and ends at Gwadar. India objects to CPEC because Gilgit-Baltistan is Indian territory under Pakistan's occupation.
Don't confuse with
- Chabahar port: Chabahar lies a little west of Gwadar, on Iran's coast. India runs its Shahid Beheshti terminal. Gwadar is in Pakistan and is run by China.
Related concepts
- Belt and Road Initiative
- China-Pakistan Economic Corridor
- Hambantota port
- String of pearls
- International North-South Transport Corridor
- Ashgabat Agreement
- India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor
- Chennai-Vladivostok Eastern Maritime Corridor
- Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project
- BBIN Motor Vehicles Agreement