Iran's Chabahar vs Pakistan's Gwadar

[Riaz Haq]

Chabahar port in Iran is only about 100 miles from Gwadar port in Pakistan. Both are natural deep sea ports in the Arabian sea.

Gwadar Extends into Deep Sea with East & West Bays

Eastern Half of Gwadar Port

Gwadar port's planned capacity when it is completed will be 300 to 400 million tons of cargo annually.  It is comparable to the capacity of all of India's ports combined annual capacity of 500 million tons of cargo today.   It is far larger than the 10-12 million tons cargo handling capacity planned for Chabahar.

Completed Gwadar Berths & Cranes

To put Gwadar's scale in perspective, let's compare it with the largest US port of Long Beach which handles 80 million tons of cargo, about a quarter of what Gwadar will handle upon completion of the project. Gawadar port will be capable of handling the world's largest container ships and massive oil tankers.

Gawadar port is being built in Pakistan by the Chinese as part of the ambitious $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) that will eventually serve as Hong Kong West for  growing Chinese trade with the Middle East and Europe.  CPEC will also enable Pakistan to bypass Afghanistan to trade with Central Asia through China across China's borders with Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.

Gwadar Port Authority Building

Chabahar is ostensibly an Indian effort to build a port in Iran to bypass Pakistan for India's trade with landlocked Afghanistan and other Central Asian states.  Prime Minister Modi has committed $500 million investment in Chabahar, a tiny fraction of the Chinese commitment for Gwadar. A trilateral agreement was recently signed in Tehran by Indian Prime Minister Modi, Iranian President Rouhani and Afghan President Ghani.

Trade with Afghanistan through Afghan-Iran border in the West will probably remain a pipe dream given that 1) most of Afghan population lives in east and south close to the border with Pakistan and 2) Afghanistan has very poor infrastructure making it very difficult to move cargo across land from west to east and south of the country.

Big Chinese Ship Docked at Gwadar

Pakistan suspects that India's real objective in Iran is to locate its intelligence agents under the cover of Chabahar port construction workers to sabotage China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and support Baloch insurgency to destabilize Pakistan. These suspicions were strengthened when Indian spy Kulbhushan Yadav, operating under the fake name Husain Mubarak Patel, was arrested in Balochistan in March this year. Yadav confessed he was operating as an undercover RAW agent from his base in Chabahar, Iran.

If Iran does nothing to stop Indian covert activities from its soil against Pakistan, Iran-Pakistan relations could suffer irreparable harm. Efforts to sabotage CPEC will not please China either, and the Chinese are far more important to Iran as trading partners than India. This should give pause to hardline anti-Pakistan sectarian elements in Tehran.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsYDpMY35U8





Related Links:

Haq's Musings

Gwadar as Hong Kong West

China-Pakistan Industrial Corridor

Indian Spy Kulbhushan Yadav's Confession

Ex Indian Spy Documents RAW Successes Against Pakistan

Saleem Safi of GeoTV on Gwadar

Pakistan FDI Soaring with Chinese Money for CPEC

[Riaz Haq]

Lijian Zhao 赵立坚‏Verified account
@zlj517
Following Following @zlj517
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Gwadar update: COSCO will start a container shipping line at Gwadar port on every Wednesday from 7 March 2018. Businessmen who are interested to export or import specially sea food from Gwadar to any destination to China or any destination globally, can take benefit of it.

https://twitter.com/zlj517/status/963323304655269889

[Riaz Haq]

#Iran shocks #India. #Iranian FM says he has offered #Pakistan and #China participation in India's #Chabahar project http://toi.in/qUtthZ/a24gk via @timesofindia

NEW DELHI: In what may come as a shock to India, Iran said yesterday it offered Pakistan and China participation in the Chabahar project, a port that is being built by India for the express purpose of bypassing Pakistan.
Pakistan's Dawn newspaper reported today that Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif yesterday invited Pakistan to participate in Chabahar seaport project + and in the development of its link with the Gwadar Port "as he sought to allay concerns here (in Pakistan) over Indian involvement in the Iranian port."
“We offered to participate in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). We have also offered Pakistan and China to participate in Chabahar,” said Zarif, who is on a three-day visit to Pakistan, while delivering a lecture at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad, said Dawn. 

Chabahar is said to be becoming a success story in the India-Iran relationship. The first phase of the Chabahar port in south-east Iran, which India is developing, was inaugurated in December last year. The port opened a new strategic transit route between India, Iran and Afghanistan that bypassed Pakistan. It is expected to cut transport costs/time for Indian goods by a third and likely to ramp up trade among India, Afghanistan and Iran in the wake of Pakistan denying transit access to New Delhi for trade with the two countries.

Given this context, India's not likely to be pleased with the Iranian foreign minister's comments. It's possible though that Zarif was merely making conciliatory remarks. That's because he went out of his way to assure Pakistan that its ties with India are not in conflict with Islamabad

Zarif drew a comparison with Pakistan’s ties with Saudi Arabia and said that just like that relationship does not tarnish Islamabad's ties with Tehran, India's and Iran's relationship isn't going to affect Pakistan negatively, reported Mehr News, an Iranian news agency. He added that the Gwadar port city in Pakistan and Chabahar transit agreement between India, Iran and Afghanistan are “complementary” and not “competitive”.

[Riaz Haq]

Pakistan prime minister inaugurates first deep-water container terminal

http://www.arabnews.com/node/1301411/world

Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi inaugurated the initial phase of the country’s $1.4 billion first high-tech deep-water container terminal on Friday.
Hutchison Ports Pakistan is a public-private partnership of Karachi Port Trust (KPT) and Hong Kong-based Hutchison Ports Holdings. The terminal is one of the most advanced in the region, having broken its own productivity record four times and serviced some of the largest container ships in the world since test operations began on December 9, 2016. Its high performance is expected to raise Pakistan’s global trade competitiveness and set a strong foundation for further economic growth.
“The state-of-the-art new container terminal at KPT will be a key component to become part of the overall CPEC system, assisting and facilitating CPEC development in Pakistan, which the government of both Pakistan and China are pursuing so vigorously,” Abbasi said. “The CPEC is the initiative of BRI, which is the project of not only regional but global connectivity.”
As the incumbent government of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) is about to complete its five-year tenure, the prime minister highlighted the achievements of his government, claiming that it had undertaken major development projects that had not been done in the past 65 years.
“Turning the economy around, overcoming the energy crisis, combating extremism and terrorism and huge investment in human development sectors have remained our key priorities since the very first day of our government,” Abbasi said. “Our economic rebound is particularly remarkable because we achieved it while aggressively fighting terrorism throughout Pakistan, for which we had to allocate resources to our law enforcement agencies.”
He said that many projects in the energy sector were in the pipeline, including four LNG terminals, four power plants of 600 MW and a desalination plant of more than 50 million gallons. “I am confident that the new government after the elections will be more than willing to play its part to make it a success story,” Abbasi said.
Andy Tsoi, managing director of Hutchison Ports, Middle East Africa, said the port was being operated at international standards and applied the highest level of expertise to port operations. “The project is a glowing example of public-private partnership and the Pak- China friendship that will augment the economic environment of Pakistan while revitalizing the ports and shipping industry and strengthen the relationship between both countries,” Tsoi said.
Senator Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo, minister for maritime affairs, said that 97 percent of Pakistan’s international trade was handled through seaports and the ministry was committed to integrating the country’s ports. “Hutchison Port Pakistan project is an example of the successes of a public-private partnership in which KPT has invested around $800 million and Hutchison Port Holdings will be investing over $600 million,” Bizenjo said.
He announced the start of cruise line services from Karachi port to Chahbahar port via Gwadar port, connecting Oman and Dubai as well. “The Pakistan National Shipping Corporation has completed formalities and is in the process of buying three vessels. Soon foreign and local vessels will be registered in Pakistan like in Panama,” he said.

[Riaz Haq]

Slow Internet Hurting China's Silk Road Ambitions in Pakistan
Faseeh MangiJuly 12, 2018, 4:00 PM EDT
Gwadar port seeks to pip Iran’s Chabahar for Afghan business

https://www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2018-07-12/slow-interne...


A port in Pakistan’s Gwadar is a linchpin in China’s plan to revive the old Silk Road linking Asia to Europe and Africa, but a slow Internet line is causing it to lose business.

The customs authority’s failure to fully address issues with Internet speed and reliability has meant the port, operated by a Chinese state-owned company, is functioning at less than capacity, Dostain Khan Jamaldini, chairman of the Gwadar Port Authority, said in an interview.


“About four cargoes of sea food go daily from here to Karachi,” Jamaldini said, referring to the jetty next to the port where customs clearance is done manually. “We are not proactive, we are reactive. It’s a systematic flaw.”

The deep-sea port in Pakistan represents a geopolitical tension point with neighboring arch-rival India, which is financing an Iranian port about 76 nautical miles away. India sent its first wheat consignment to Afghanistan through Iran’s Chabahar port in October.

Bandwidth Issues
The customs authority’s online system is riddled by delays due to a slow internet connection and an alternative wireless system installed by the Chinese too is facing bandwidth problems, according to Jamaldini.

Pakistan’s Federal Board of Revenue Member Customs, Muhammad Zahid, wasn’t available for comment. Jamaldini feels time is of essence, as Gwadar is better positioned geographically and economically for trade with Afghanistan .

“Chabahar port does not have that potential, the route is longer and more expensive,” he said, adding “state policy can force traders temporarily but not forever, they will work where they make more money.”

What used to be a small fishing town on the southwestern corner of Pakistan is giving way for construction of roads and buildings to house banks, insurance and clearing agents. China Overseas Port Holdings, the port’s operator, has separately spent $250 million to add five new cranes, construct a building in less than six months by importing ready made parts and create space for a free zone.

Read more: China’s Big Political Gambit Hinges on a Remote Arabian Sea Port

Five manufacturers have signed agreements to build factories at the economic free zone, including for electric motorcycles, edible oil and a fish processing plant, said Jamaldini.

China is making a big bet on Pakistan and Beijing’s financing has brought power plants and infrastructure projects valued at about $60 billion. The nation’s economic growth rose to the highest in more than a decade and power blackouts have been curbed, helping trigger a wave of expansion in cement and steel companies.

However, the increased imports has also lead to Pakistan’s current financial deterioration, with a current-account deficit that has increased by 45 percent to $16 billion in eleven months ended May. There are also concerns over the viability of the port itself.

Gwadar “can potentially serve a role to provide additional port capacity for Pakistan itself, for Afghanistan, as a complement and trans-shipment hub for Chabahar, as a location for the Chinese to ship materials and so on,” said Andrew Small, a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States and an author of a book on China-Pakistan relations. It “isn’t really envisaged as the beginning or end of a transit route for China.”

[Riaz Haq]

#Karachi's Hutchison #Port named ‘Container Terminal of the Year’. It is #Pakistan's first custom-built deep-water container terminal recognized for its pioneering role in deep-water #containers handling in Pakistan and #SouthAsia. https://dailytimes.com.pk/322231/hutchison-ports-pakistan-named-con...

Hutchison Ports Pakistan was presented the Container Terminal of the Year (South Asia) award at the inaugural Transport and Logistics Middle East Excellence Awards 2018. The country’s first deep-water container terminal was the only Pakistani company to be recognized at the ceremony, which was held in Dubai this week.

Organised by the news publication Transport and Logistics Middle East, the awards recognize and celebrate operational and technical excellence among the leaders in the transport and logistics industries in the Middle East and South Asian region.

Present at the ceremony were government dignitaries including H.E. Dr. Nabil Al Amudi, Minister of Transport, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; H.E. Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansoori, Minister of Economy, UAE; and H.E. Ahmed Mahboob, CEO of Dubai Customs among others.

Hutchison Ports Pakistan, the country’s first custom-built and deep-water container terminal, was recognized for its pioneeringrole in deep-water container handling in Pakistan and South Asia, including its introduction of innovative solutions — all of which holds the potential to support the country’s shipping industry through savings of time and money.

“We are honoured to receive this award. This recognition is a testament to our commitment of excellence, efficiency and world-class service to our customers,” said Captain Syed Rashid Jamil, General Manager & Head of Business Unit, Hutchison Ports Pakistan.

Through Hutchison Ports Pakistan, Pakistan’s economy stands to benefit immensely not only through the payment of port dues and other taxes and duties but through the creation of direct and indirect employment opportunities, transfer of technology, skills development of Pakistani engineers and other technical employees, cost savings accruing to exporters and importers, and overall efficiencies in Pakistan’s trade by sea.

Hutchison Ports Pakistan is situated at the estuary of the Keamari Groyne basin, providing the most convenient access to ships entering Karachi. The new facility is the closest Pakistan port to the shipping lanes in the Arabian Sea. Its prime location offers the shortest steaming time from the Fairway Buoy, and will bring real benefits to customers, relating to time, cost, reduction in risk of delays, and reduced carbon emissions.

[Riaz Haq]

#Pakistan’s deep-water #port at #Karachi enters phase II of expansion. Will handle 3.4 million containers of 20-foot length each by the end of 2020 compared to 1.5 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) today. #Shipping #Cargo https://tribune.com.pk/story/1967137/2-pakistans-deep-water-port-en...

KARACHI: Hutchison Ports Pakistan, the country’s first and only deep-water port capable of berthing the world’s largest container vessel, has entered into its second phase of expansion.

“The expansion will enhance the installed capacity to handle 3.4 million containers of 20-foot length each by the end of 2020 compared to 1.5 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) at present,” General Manager and Head of Business Unit Captain Syed Rashid Jamil said while briefing a group of journalists at the expansion site on Monday.

A four-lane railway cargo track of around 4-5 kilometres inside the port facility, coupled with an increase in installed capacity of power production are also included in the second phase expansion plan.
The deep-water port is located at the Karachi Port Trust (KPT). It is a subsidiary of Hutchison Port Holdings of Hong Kong which enjoys 90% shareholding. KPT is a partner in the project. Some local transport and logistics firms have the rest 10% shareholding in the port. The port began commercial operations in February 2017.

Total cost of the project would be $1.4 billion, which includes KPT’s share of $800 million and Hutchison Ports Pakistan’s (HPP) contribution over $600 million.

So far, HPP has spent $450-500 million. “Estimates suggest that it would be spending close to $750-800 million by the time the second phase gets completed,” stated reliable sources.

The firm has opted for expansion despite the growth rate of cross-border transportation of the containerised cargo remaining flat at around 3.4 million TEUs in calendar year 2018 and it shrank 5% in the first four months (January-April) of the current year.

Gwadar port aims to become new Dubai

“We are expanding containerised cargo handling capacity as per our original plans of 2007 when we signed and initiated the project on built, maintain and transfer basis,” Jamil added.

The port is capable of berthing the world’s largest container vessel of 25,000 TEUs as it has a depth of 18 metres at the outer approach channel and 16.5 metres on the berth side. So far, it received the largest ever container ship of 11,923 TEUs – the China India Express – in December 2018.

Earlier, Pakistan was unable to handle containerised vessels of more than 8,000 TEUs.

The reliable sources noted that growth in the cross-border transportation of containerised cargo shrank in the current year after the incumbent government imposed conditions on fast moving consumers goods (FMCGs) sector including printing details and ingredients, halal certificate and expiry date on the products packaging.

The deep-water port has a 28-megawatts (MW) diesel-based captive power plant. It would increase the power production capacity by 8MW in the second phase.

China, the single largest trading partner of Pakistan, has remained the biggest source of containerised cargo transportation at the deep-water port. Besides, it also transports import and export containerised cargo to and from Europe and the US.

[Riaz Haq]

#India unhappy as #Iran goes to #Pakistan asking to link #Chabahar to #Gwadar #CPEC Deccan Herald

https://www.deccanherald.com/national/iran-goes-to-pakistan-with-ch...

As New Delhi complied with US sanctions on Iran and stopped buying crude oil from the Islamic Republic this month, Tehran responded by offering to connect its Chabahar Port with Gwadar Port of Pakistan.

Iran was the third-largest oil supplier for India after Iraq and Saudi Arabia. India bought 23.6 million tons of oil from Iran in the 2018-19 financial year.

India is concerned over the proposal Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif mooted during his recent visit to Pakistan late last week. Zarif proposed to connect Chabahar Port of Iran with the Gwadar Port, which was developed by China on the south-weste...

New Delhi perceived Chabahar Port in Iran as a counter to the Gwadar Port, which China developed as part of its “String of Pearls” policy to develop strategic assets around India.

New Delhi has been stayed away from the BRI, as the CPEC, linking Xinjiang in China and Gwadar Port of Pakistan passes through parts of Kashmir that India has been claiming as its own and accusing Pakistan of illegally occupying.

[Riaz Haq]

#Afghan-#India #Trade Impacted Due to Cut in #Chabahar funding, #US sanctions on #Iran and #Pakistan airspace closure. Banks in #Afghanistan are not willing to open credit lines for shipment via #Iran ports. https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/trends/current-affairs-trends/cut...

While the (Indian) government has been allocating Rs 150 crore for the port for the past couple of years, this time around, funds allocated have been reduced to Rs 45 crore

The government's decision to slash funds for the development of Chabahar port in Union Budget 2019-20, coupled with the sanctions imposed by the United States on Iran, will affect the trade between India and Afghanistan, The Hindu has reported.

This is in addition to the effect that Pakistan's decision to close its airspace for flights to and from India is having on trade between the two countries, according to the report.

The report states that while the government has been allocating Rs 150 crore for the port for the past couple of years, this time around, the funds allocated have been reduced to Rs 45 crore.

Sources in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) told the newspaper that the readjustment in funds is "based on realistic assessment of likely expenditure to be incurred this financial year", indicating that India does not anticipate developing Chabahar port at the same pace as earlier.


"During the last months (February-May), Chabahar had flourished for transportation of goods and commodities to Afghanistan and central Asia with the volume of loading and unloading twice as much as before," Iran’s Ambassador to Delhi Ali Chegeni told the newspaper. He, however, added that hostile statements by US officials on Iran's sanctions "naturally and indirectly has negative impacts and led to worry among companies about working with Iranian ports, including Chabahar".

While the US has stated that Trump's decision not to grant sanctions exemptions to any oil customers of Iran would not have any effect on the port, the report states that the sanctions have slowed business down.

This is because the banks in Afghanistan are not willing to open credit lines for shipment, while cargo handlers and shippers are not servicing the Chabahar port, according to the report.

Chabahar is the only seaport Iran has in its energy-rich Sistan-Balochistan province by the Gulf of Oman and consists of two ports with five berths each. The port is a counter to Pakistan's Gwadar port, which is being developed with Chinese investment.

The port, inaugurated in December 2017, has opened a new strategic route connecting Iran with India and Afghanistan, bypassing Pakistan.

In December 2017, India took over the operations of port and commissioned the second port this January, marking the country's maritime entry into a foreign land.

The report states that the trade with Afghanistan through the air route has also been stalled due to Pakistan's airspace restrictions, with officials stating that a flight from Delhi to Kabul, the Afghanistan capital, taking five hours where it would have taken one-and-a-half hours normally.

[Riaz Haq]

#Pakistan's #Gwadar Begins Handling #Afghan Transit #Trade. First ship full of Afghan cargo containers reached Gwadar on Tuesday. Containers will be loaded onto trucks for transport to #Afghanistan via #Pakistani border town of Chaman. #Chabahar #India https://www.voanews.com/south-central-asia/china-built-pakistani-po...

Pakistan’s newly opened southwestern Gwadar seaport has begun handling transit cargo headed to and from landlocked Afghanistan, marking a significant outcome of Islamabad’s multi-billion-dollar collaboration with China.

Officials said the first ship full of Afghan cargo containers reached Gwadar on Tuesday. The containers will be loaded onto trucks for transport to Afghanistan through the Pakistani border town of Chaman.

Kabul traditionally has relied on Pakistani overland routes and the two main southern seaports of Karachi and Port Qasim for international trade under a bilateral deal with Islamabad, known as the Afghan Transit Trade Agreement (ATTA).

The recent Chinese financial and construction efforts, though, have activated the strategically located Arabian Sea deep-water port of Gwadar, which offers a much shorter overland link, particularly to southern regions of Afghan, for the rapid delivery of goods.

The port is at the center of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which is building Pakistani roads, power plants, economic zones and a major airport in Gwadar to improve connectivity between the two allied nations and the region in general.

The massive project is hailed as the flagship of Beijing’s trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative, which has brought about $30 billion to Pakistan in direct investment, soft loans and grants over the past six years.“

CPEC and the Belt and Road Initiative are promoting regional economic ties,” said the Chinese Embassy in Islamabad while announcing the arrival of the first Afghan cargo containers at Gwadar.

Officials in Islamabad say Pakistan constitutes roughly 47 percent of total Afghan exports, while some 60 percent of Afghan transit trade goes through the northwestern Pakistan border crossing of Torkham. The Gwadar Port, they say, will increase the transit trade activity between the two countries.

China and Pakistan say they also plan to link CPEC to Afghanistan once the security situation improves in the war-torn neighbor.

Beijing recently announced it would fund and install modern reception centers, drinking water and cold storage facilities at Chaman and Torkham to better serve the daily movement of thousands of people as well as trade convoys moving in both directions.

China also has initiated a trilateral dialogue to help ease tensions between Kabul and Islamabad to encourage political, security and economic cooperation in the region.

Critics say Chinese infrastructure investments, however, are burdening economically struggling and debt-ridden economies, like Pakistan, with expensive loans that ultimately would turn into a "debt trap” for these nations. Islamabad and Beijing reject those concerns as misplaced.

[Riaz Haq]

#Beijing-backed #Pakistan port opens as hub for #Afghanistan trade. #Gwadar challenges #India's interests in region (#Chabahar) , but #China's ROI remains unclear. #CPEC #Trade #Iran #CentralAsia #CAREC https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Belt-and-Road/Beijing-backed-Paki...