Going long. Again.........In the post: After Pakistan’s Soft Coup- Imran Khan’s Dangerous Victory The little list highlighting Pakistan's geopolitical importance was included. By no means extensive, but, hopefully enough to understand the great game is at play in Pakistan.
Pakistan & the geopolitical global game of chess
- Pakistan is a critically important piece in the geo political game that is taking place in that part of the globe.
- There are plans to balkanize Pakistan.
- There is an area called Baluchistan that is a specific point of interest
- There is a giant port at Gwadar- Built by China
- This also connects back to Afghanistan and India.
Pretty certain I've mentioned the separatist movement that is being encouraged in Baluchistan province- Quetta, Baluchistan was where the suicide bombing took place on election day- That was no accident.In 2009 Pushing South Asia Toward the BrinkReally early days for this blog and blogger- I'd postulated that the US was working to destroy Pakistan- By pitting India against Pakistan. In an arms race.
"By enabling an India-Pakistan arms race, rather than focusing on resolving the conflict and helping them make peace, the United States is driving Pakistan toward the very collapse it fears"
"The Pakistani army, which rules the country even when civilians are in office, will not easily shift its view of India. The army and those who lead it see the threat from India as their very reason for being. The army has grown in size, influence, and power, to the point where it dwarfs all other institutions in society and would lose much if there was peace with India"
9 years ago the Pakistani military was so massive and powerful, having out sized influence within that impoverished nation state that no one could lead the nation without it's blessing. Which is what Imran Khan has now! Consider all these years later how much more powerful this army has grown. At the expense of the Pakistani people's well being. The latest IMF bailout will undoubtedly pay for lots and lots of military hardware... Purchased from the US, of course. Since the US is the largest provider of funds to the IMF. Keeping that in mind, it's not a coincidence that Khan is set to take the largest IMF/US bail out package in the history of Pakistan.As was confirmed yesterday Mr Khan is set to take Pakistan's largest IMF bailout ever
If the US can succeed in balkanizing Pakistan, as they have planned, the bulk of Pakistan will absorb Afghanistan or some portion of it. The US/UK NATO World order will have succeeded in blocking China's one belt/one road project by controlling the separatist province of Baluchistan which will be a proxy state of Usrael/UK or the NATO world order?Baluchistan is the home of Gwadar and that giant Chinese naval base. China also has plans to build rail lines extending from China to Pakistan. In fact they have an entire economic corridor planned China/Pakistan economic corridor
1. Gwadar Ownership – A CPEC HubGwadar is a city of Balochistan province in Pakistan, and it’s a future economic and trade hub as defined in China-Pakistan Economic Corridor route map. Gwadar is popular due to its strategic and geographical importance in region and also for a Gwadar Port.
Nutshell summary- the economic corridor from China to the strategically located Gwadar port has everything to do with Sharif being removed and Imran Khan/Con being anointed.I'm still shocked today at the claims being made in the alternative sphere regarding Imran Khan. It boggles the mind!CSISThe Issue
The development of Gwadar Port is a key element of the greater China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). It speaks to both the strength of the China-Pakistan relationship and the reach of China’s grand strategy. With Pakistan’s two other major ports operating near capacity with no room for expansion, projects in Gwadar promise to eventually handle one million tons of cargo annually, while also providing significant industrial, oil, and transportation infrastructure. Though a “monument of Pakistan-China friendship,” there are misgivings on both sides about CPEC, including the safety of Chinese workers, the resentment of Baloch nationalists, and the growing debt trap created by the project. The prospect of the PLA Navy in Gwadar poses greater security questions, as it forms another link in China’s efforts to expand its maritime presence in the Indo-Pacific region. The members of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or “Quad,” comprised of India, Japan, Australia, and the United States, should counter China’s strategic outreach by networking with other like-minded countries on cooperative security frameworks to ensure a free, open, prosperous, and inclusive Indo-Pacific region.
Gwadar, gateway to the $62 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), was until recently a cluster of small, little-known fishing villages on the Makran coast of Pakistan. Gwadar is only 107 miles (172 km) from Chabahar across the border with Iran and, now, both ports are being developed into maritime hubs by China and India, respectively, triggering what is being called the New Great Game in South Asia. The CPEC is projected to link Kashgar in Xinjiang with Gwadar on the Makran coast of Balochistan, the largest province of Pakistan. It is expected to bring economic prosperity to the region and is part of President Xi Jinping’s “dream of national rejuvenation.”
He Lifeng, chairman of National Development and Reform Commission–China, said in a message, “The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is an important loop in the larger chain of Belt and Road Initiative, and would enable the possibility of a 21st Century Maritime Silk Route.” Earlier called One Belt, One Road (OBOR), the bold initiative under which multiple projects like CPEC are likely to be launched has been renamed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Other terms such as the New Silk Road and the Maritime Silk Road are also in use.
Gwadar Port: Plans and Progress
Gwadar port, now under construction, is located close to the mouth of the Persian Gulf just below the Straits of Hormuz. It is the third commercial port of Pakistan after Karachi and Qasim. Together the older two ports handle 95 percent of Pakistan’s sea-borne trade, but their capacities have been fully exploited and there is no scope for further expansion. Gwadar port is being built in phases. When completed, it will have three 200-meter-long berths and one Ro-Ro (roll on-roll off) facility. At present the port has the capacity to handle 50,000 deadweight tonnage (DWT) bulk carriers drawing up to 12.5 meters.
According to the Gwadar Port Authority’s vision statement, “Gwadar deep sea port is the second great monument of Pakistan-China friendship after the Karakoram Highway linking Pakistan and China.” Besides Gwadar port, CPEC will include transport infrastructure, oil pipelines, power plants, and industrial zones with a capital outlay of nearly $60 billion. A $2 billion oil refinery is planned to be set up near Gwadar. The port is being developed by the China Overseas Port Holding Company (COPHC), to which it was leased by the Pakistan government for 40 years in April 2017. The final expansion of the port and ancillary systems will be undertaken by the Chinese.
Funds for this ambitious project will be provided by China both through the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and by way of direct government-to-government soft loans. To help China to recover its capital investment, COPHC will get a 91 percent share of the revenue from the operations of the port and the terminal and 85 percent of the revenue generated by the free zone. Under this arrangement, though the port is expected to handle 1 million tonnes of cargo annually, the impression in Pakistan is that benefits will accrue mainly to the Chinese. Also, there are misgivings within Pakistan regarding the debt trap that the huge investment in CPEC will result in. The Pakistani elite are no doubt watching the disaster that the developments of Hambantota port and international airport have been for Sri Lanka.
Balochistan-
The separatist resurgence is thwarting Pakistan's plans to optimally utilize Balochistan’s energy reserves. It is also hampering efforts to build transnational gas pipelines from Iran and Turkmenistan—with the potential to generate royalty worth $700 to 800 million annually. (This is the TAPI pipeline- there is additional information below)
Accepting responsibility for an attack on construction workers near Gwadar in which 10 laborers died in May 2017, Jeander Baloch, the BLA spokesperson, said in a statement, “This conspiratorial plan [CPEC] is not acceptable to the Baloch people under any circumstances. Baloch independence movements have made it clear several times that they will not abandon their people’s future in the name of development projects or even democracy.” In previous years, some Chinese workers have also been targeted.
Yes, the Baloch separatists have been killing workers- And they won't stop. Not for a better future, jobs or even democracy- weird huh?
Efforts to Counter China’s Strategic Outreach
In China’s grand strategy, Gwadar is an important foothold that is part of its String of Pearls strategy for the Indo-Pacific. Other “pearls” in South Asia include Myanmar’s Kyaukpyu port and Hambantota in Sri Lanka. Maldives has also negotiated an agreement with China for the long-term lease of a port. Chinese maritime strategy draws heavily from Mahan’s theory of sea dominance. Mahan’s hypothesis was that whoever controls the Indian Ocean will dominate the whole of Asia. The PLA Navy is expanding rapidly and clearly aims to dominate the Indo-Pacific. If Gwadar port is converted into a naval base sometime in the future, it will enable the PLA Navy to maintain a permanent presence in the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman. In the eventuality of India having to fight a two-front war—undoubtedly a low-probability scenario—the Indian Navy would have to contend with a formidable maritime force. India’s energy supplies from the Gulf and maritime trade will become highly vulnerable to interception.
Both China and Pakistan view the development of Gwadar port as a win-win situation. The CPEC is part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) that seeks to extend China’s strategic outreach deep into the Indo-Pacific region and counter U.S. influence in the Indo-Pacific. It is also designed to give a fillip to China’s slowing economy by generating large-scale construction activity, building an alternative route for oil and gas supplies and creating new markets for China’s products. Notably, China is simultaneously engaged in building its first overseas military base in Djibouti. China’s military assertiveness in reclaiming land and building air strips and ancillary support facilities on some of the disputed Spratly and Paracel islands in the South China Sea, in blatant violation of the Law of the Sea Treaty and other international norms, has led to instability and fueled the possibility of future conflict in Southeast Asia.
Background:It is not so well known that at the time of independence of India and Pakistan from Britain in 1947, Gwadar was a principality that had been in the possession of the Sultan of Oman for almost 200 years. Gwadar had been given as a gift to Oman by the Khan of Kalat in 1783. From 1863 up to independence in 1947, it was administered by a British assistant political agent on behalf of the Sultan of Oman. At that time, the enclave comprised a few fishing villages.After independence, Gwadar was administered by an Indian administrator on behalf of the Sultan of Oman as the two countries enjoyed excellent relations. When, at the urging of the Pakistan government, the Khan of Kalat requested the Sultan of Oman to return Gwadar to Pakistan, reportedly the Sultan first offered the port to India. However, India declined to accept the gift. Oman is then reported to have sold Gwadar to Pakistan for $3 million on September 8, 1958. Since December 1958, it has been an integral part of the Balochistan province of Pakistan. It is now being developed into a deep-water port with Chinese assistance.
It appears to me, based on information I’ve availed myself of previously, the US/UK has long been invigorating the separatist desire. Through the use of terrorists. Hence the ISIS attack on Quetta on election dayThen there are pipelines to consider: IPI & TAPI
- Iran, Pakistan, Syria, Qatar: Pipelineistan at work
- Pipeline Politics etc., India and Pakistan join the Shanghai Cooperative
- Mehran Airbase - False Flag attack ?
- Raymond Davis, key to nuclear false flag and all out global warfare?
Which links back to a 2007 article
“Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama said on Wednesday the United States must be willing to strike al Qaeda targets inside Pakistan, adopting a tough tone after a chief rival accused him of naivete in foreign policy. “Obama said if elected in November 2008 he would be willing to attack inside Pakistan with or without approval from the Pakistani government, a move that would likely cause anxiety in the already troubled region.“If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf won’t act, we will,” Obama said.
Of course it was Obama that 'captured' Osama- I roll my eyes!
Pakistan-China Relations and CPECThe China-Pakistan relationship has been labeled by the leaders of both counties as an “all-weather friendship.” It has been variously described as “higher than the mountains, deeper than the oceans, stronger than steel and sweeter than honey.” The two countries have colluded in developing nuclear warheads and ballistic missiles. They also have a close relationship in manufacturing military hardware. Most of Pakistan’s weapons and equipment now come from China. The relations between the two have become even closer with the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) beginning to take shape. Together the two countries have been assiduously wooing Afghanistan, Iran, and Russia to join CPEC for mutual benefit. India opposes CPEC, as the project is being built through disputed territory in Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
The $62 billion project will link Xinjiang Province of China with Gwadar port on the Makran Coast west of Karachi. China is extremely concerned about the safety and security of its workers engaged in construction work in CPEC projects. Though Pakistan is raising a Special Security Division comprising approximately 15,000 personnel to provide security for the CPEC against terrorist attacks, the experience of Chinese dam construction in Gilgit-Baltistan has shown that eventually PLA soldiers are inducted for this purpose. The presence of PLA personnel in Pakistan in large numbers will further vitiate the security environment in South Asia.
With its growing investment in infrastructure projects in Pakistan and increase in the number of its citizens on Pakistani soil, China will have a greater stake in regional peace and stability and could play a positive role to help resolve a future crisis. However, in view of its recent track record in the South China Sea, its handling of the dispute over the Senkaku (Diaoyu) Islands, and its failure to intervene effectively to curtail North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, it is doubtful whether China will actually do so.
Understanding this background helps one make sense of the installation of Imran Khan and the IMF bail out-As for nonsensical claims of the US leaving Afghanistan- Bull biscuits!
- They need the drug money for black market ops and weapons.
- They need to hold the strategic location to keep Pakistan in line
- They need to hold the location to antagonize Russia.
- And they need the location to destabilize Iran.