حزب مردم بلوچستان Balochistan People’s Party بلوچستانءِ اُستمانءِ گــَل
Central Asia’s
Seaport: Gwadar or Chahbahar?
29.11.2008
Both Iran and Pakistan have developed strategies to create strong economic
and transport ties with Central Asia and beyond. Anchoring these strategies
are two new seaports: Gwadar in Pakistan and Chabahar in Iran. Spreading out
from these ports are existing or planned transportation infrastructure that
leads into their respective countries economic center and importantly for
Central Asia, northwards. Both ports are well towards becoming fully
operable and are offering generous incentives for companies and governments
to do business in their ports. However, serious political, economic and
logistical problems remain. For Central Asia one of these two ports, or
indeed both, will likely become important links to world markets.
Tip: look way down into the bottom left-hand corner to see the ports.
The problems with Karachi and Bandar Abbas
Karachi is already overburdened with severe congestion from commercial,
fishing and military shipping. And from a strategic vantage point it is
quite problematic. The Indian Navy targeted the port in 1971 and any
blockade in the future would devastate Pakistan since that country has an
overreliance on the port of Karachi. The port of Qasim, built in the 1970s
was to relive some of that burden and the port of Gwadar is expected to
further reduce the reliance on Karachi.
Bandar Abbas is of enormous strategic significance to Iran as it is located
on the Strait of Hormuz leading into the Persian Gulf. But that is also a
problem for Iran. The area is already burdened with high traffic and of
course, the U.S. Navy. Iran wishes to have another port that is more
conducive to trade and further growth.
Gwadar
Gwadar, being much further away from India than Karachi, makes obvious
strategic sense. But it is its commercial potential that will provide the
most benefits. Gwadar is not some long-term project. Its first phase, with
75% of the costs covered by the Chinese government, is already completed.
The existing docks, built by the Chinese Harbor Engineering Company, are now
being operated by Port of Singapore. Port of Singapore won the contract over
Dubai Ports World, the company that was forced out of America by
opportunistic xenophobes in both political parties there. Phase two will be
completed by 2010, adding even more capacity. Ziad Haider, a researcher at
the South Asia Program at the Henry L. Stimson Center, noted that Pakistan
can make the project succeed if it maintains the financial and political
support of China for the project and if it makes some concessions to the
Baluchis near Gwadar, who have already carried out deadly attacks on Chinese
engineers.
The problem with Gwadar, wrote Ammad Hassan in his thesis for the US Naval
Postgraduate School, is that while the port has been built, the supporting
infrastructure of railroad link, industrial capacity, and civic structures
at Gwadar is almost non-existent. And of course, all analysts mention
Pakistan’s extremely problematic relations with the ethnic Baluch in the
area who, in addition to having been in a low-grade insurgency for some
time, are not at all supportive of the port. And to understate another
issue, southern Afghanistan is not quite ready to be a reliable transport
corridor for Pakistan to access Central Asia, despite the Afghan governments
voiced support for the project. Nevertheless, the idea of further
integrating Central Asian and Russian resources southward with the Asian and
Middle Eastern market has others optimistic about the long-term prospects.
The Asian Development Bank is somewhat cautious though, noting that
initially the port will be significant only to Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and
Tajikistan.
Chabahar
Gwadar’s competition for trade and transport will come from Chabahar, the
new Indian-financed port in Iran. A port outside of the Persian Gulf makes
sense from a strategic and logistical viewpoint for Iran. The port of
Chabahar was part of a plan to develop transportation infrastructure in
Iran’s east for many years. Initially put in hold in 1984 it was revived in
2002 with Indian help. And the financing and engineering assistance from
India is not limited to the port. India, wishing to bypass Pakistan, is also
cooperating on a highway system that leads from the port into Afghanistan as
well as a planned railroad to Afghanistan. Iranian officials state that they
wish to have Bandar Abbas remain as the port for Russian and European trade
and have Chabahar become the port for trade with Afghanistan and Central
Asia. Iran already has good relations with everybody along the route leading
north (including the local warlords) into Tajikistan. And significantly, it
is in Tajikistan where Iran has already been financing several transport
projects including the Anzob tunnel. And luckily for the Iranians, the U.S.
constructed a bridge over the Amu Darya that fits in nicely with the
Chabahar to Khojent route.
Prospects for economic integration of Central Asia with the South
For energy and mineral resources to be sent south from Central Asia a much
more expensive transport infrastructure will be required than what is being
built at the moment. Another limitation is the lack of a business friendly
environment in most Central Asian states. And consumer goods are already
entering Central Asia from Russia and China. What more is there a demand
for? Furthermore, many Central Asian leaders are obsessed over local issues
and haven’t been overly enthusiastic about regional integration (with
Uzbekistan being the worst offender).
What is a long-term prospect is Central Asia being a transport route from
the ports to Xinjiang, Russia and Kazakhstan, all of them important markets.
The routes to Gwadar and Chabahar cut off thousands of kilometers for
certain trade routes.
Strategic considerations
Any transportation or military problems in the Straits of Malacca, the
Straits of Hormuz, the Suez or anywhere along Asia’s southern coastline will
further boost the importance of Central Asia as a transport and trade
corridor. Beyond Pakistan and Iran, both China and India are seeking closer
relations with Afghanistan and Central Asia. The planned transport and trade
routes will have the obvious effect of building solid ties. Iran’s
considerations are boosting trade, having secure borders, and avoiding
encirclement by American proxies (no matter how much a figment of the
Iranian government’s imagination). As for Pakistan, the governments there
have hoped for better relations with Central Asia. However, their
Afghanistan policy always got in the way. Now they hope to move away from
that era.
Conclusion
The countries of Central Asia will likely benefit from both Chabahar and
Gwadar. Diversifying its import and export routes is a logical economic and
political step. Although one should not exaggerate the economic benefits to
be reaped. As for the competition between the two ports, it will not be a
“winner take all” outcome but rather one port earning the greater share of
trade. And the “winner” in this respect will likely be Chabahar, at least in
the short term. Iran is more stable than Pakistan, it has better relations
with Afghanistan and the Central Asian states, and unlike the Gwadar route
its proposed route goes through relatively stable parts of Afghanistan. As
long as Iran avoids outright conflict with the United States or any sort of
domestic turmoil it should come out of this competition with an advantage.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stop the execution
of 5 Baloch innocent young men
Reza Hossein Borr
London- 25.11.08-- After the demolition of Azim Abad mosque in Balochistan
on 27 August 2008, several students and teachers were arrested for
expressing their discontent about the demolition of the mosque. Five of them
are now on trial on fabricated charges of having links with the People's
Resistance Movement of Iran, Jondollah. Everybody in Baluchistan knows quite
well that these are simple teachers and students that have no any kind of
links with any armed group or political organizations.
The Islamic Republic of Iran claimed that their trial has been open to the
public and the parents of the victims were also present. That regime
portrays this trial as if the innocent teachers and students were guilty of
some criminal activities in which innocent people have died. This is a new
farce of a new kind. The government destroyed the mosque and arrested
several teachers and students. They are the victims. There is no any other
victim. What a regime! What an Islamic Republic? What an Islamic Republic of
Iran? What an Islam in which all sins are allowed! The regime demolishes a
mosque, arrests many people for protesting against it and then they stage
manage a dramatic trial and claim that there were some people who were
victimized by those teachers and students that were arrested.
What has happened to Islam that allows so much lies? What has happened to
Shiism that allows so much deception and gross violations of human rights?
What has happened to Iranians that allow such miscarriage of justice so
openly? I cry for Iran and I cry for Islam.
What happened in the court? There were some people there. They were no
ordinary people. They were the agents of the regime. The parents of the
defendants were not allowed in the court. There was no any question and
answer. The prosecutor claimed that the defendants have already made
confessions and therefore there is no any need for further questioning. Even
the reports of the official media that reported the case indicated the
unreliability of the court.
This farce trial indicates how the regime regularly deceives its own people
and international community. They arrest the victims of their repressive
policies, portray them as terrorists and spies and execute them in public to
create fear; and force people into submission to a regime that according to
some of its own founders, is the most corrupt and the least competent regime
in the last 200 years.
The pain of torture can compel anybody to any kind of confessions that
cannot even come in mind. The Sunni Baluch students and teachers have been
tortured so much that they confessed having links with Jondollah. If the
Jondollah did not exist, they would have been forced to confess having
relationships with drug traffickers as hundreds of Baluch fighters have been
executed on these false charges. These confessions under torture have no any
validity according to the law of Iran and human rights charters. Yet the
Islamic Republic of Iran who has turned deception in a highly calculated
policy is trying to fool the public and international community.
These five young Sunni Baluch will be executed shortly. Nobody has faith in
the justice of the Islamic Republic of Iran, a regime which is founded on
massacre, execution, corruption and deception. There will be more arrests,
more torture and more executions but the struggle for justice and equality
will go on relentlessly by those who are committed to create an Iran in
which the dignity of human beings are respected and the rights of the people
are recognized.
The Baluch people are the vanguard of struggle for justice in Iran. They
will continue the struggle regardless of its costs. People can live in
poverty but cannot live without dignity. Those people who want to prevent
the proliferation of international terrorism, corruption and expansion of
the culture of deception and cruelty must act now before the Republic of
Iran spreads its destructive culture in other countries.
The Islamic Republic of Iran is not only exporting terrorism but it is
exporting the culture of brutality and cruelty that is an inbuilt part of
Shia culture. It will affect not only the people who live in the region but
also the people who live far away from Iran. There was a time that there
were not terrorist activities in mainland India. There have been several
Islamic terrorist attacks in that country. There was a time when Shia and
Sunnis lived like brothers in Iraq, but they are killing each other now.
There was a time that the Palestinians were united; now they are killing
each other. There was a time that the Shias and Sunnis lived in Pakistan in
harmony. Now they kill each other regularly.
This is the culture that Iran is exporting to
the world.
There was a time that Turkey was on the path of secularism and democracy.
Today it is moving away from secularism and towards religious
fundamentalism. It may seem today that Turkey is still a moderate country
but there will come a day that it will turn into a fundamentalist country if
this trend continues. There was a time that millions of Europeans and
Americans went to Pakistan and the people of Pakistan welcomed them. Today
even the diplomatic missions in Pakistan are hiding from the public. There
was a time that more than 100,000 Europeans and Americans worked in Iran.
Today it is even hard for the tourists to go to Iran and feel safe.
There was a time that Europe and America enjoyed total safety and security.
Today they suffer from different kinds of terrorisms. This is the culture of
terrorism that the Islamic Republic of Iran has nurtured, developed and
exported to different parts of the world. This is a trend which is rising
and there will be more terrorism in the world.
There will be more violent Islamic uprising
too.
If the world is supposed to be freed from these kinds of terrorisms, the
source that has created and continues to harbour them must be destroyed. The
world will regain its freedom from terrorism only when the Islamic Republic
of Iran is removed from the power and a new secular and democratic regime is
established. This is not only the responsibility of the Iranian people but
also the responsibility of international community.
Today the cost of changing this regime is very low compared to the time when
it will have a nuclear bomb.
Reza Hossein Borr is an NLP Master Trainer and a leadership consultant and
the creator of 150 CDs and 14 Change management models. He is also the
author of Manual Success, Manual of Coaching and Mentoring, Motivational
Stories that Can Change Your Life, and a New Vision for the Islamic World.
He can be contacted by email: sarawani@aol.com http://www.rezaaa.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gwadar’s real
estate boom busts
* Prices had increased hundreds of times when government announced
construction of port city in 2002
By Malik Siraj Akbar ; 29-11-208; dailytimes.com.pk/
GWADAR: Land prices in Gwadar district – where a $298 million warm water
port was inaugurated in March with the financial and technical assistance of
China – have fallen to abysmal levels in recent months after a real estate
boom that began in 2002.
A local real estate agent, who requested not to be named, informs that a
plot in Gwadar's premier Jinnah Avenue, worth Rs 10.5 million some four
years ago, was now hard to sell for Rs 4 million. Similarly, plots in the
prestigious Singar Housing Society, once priced at Rs 8 million each, would
not find a buyer even for Rs 1 million, he says.
"It seems a dream how the prices in Gwadar once soared overnight four years
ago and we all became extremely rich,” he recalls, adding, “Now Gwadar is
the same old deserted fishermen's town. The local people sold their land,
became millionaires and lavishly squandered all their money. Now, many of
those short-time millionaires are once again seen riding donkey-carts to eek
out a living.”
Yasir Bakshi, the Gwadar Real Estate Association secretary general, cites
multiple reasons for this abrupt and staggering decline in the real estate
business in Gwadar. He says a chain of events in general and the ouster of
former president Pervez Musharraf - who apparently had personal commitment
towards the completion of the port - in particular caused a blow to property
business in Gwadar.
Boom: "I remember the prices of lands costing Rs 200,000 in Gwadar reached
Rs 2 million within 24 hours in 2002. With the official media campaign about
the construction of Gwadar Port, people from Dubai, Muscat, Karachi,
Islamabad and Lahore rushed to Gwadar and bought land at extremely high
prices," recalls Yasir, adding the most coveted lands in Gwadar were those
in the Singar Housing Society, New Town and Gwadar Industrial Estate.
Yasir’s younger brother Ghoram Bakshi, who runs the popular Bakshi Hotel in
Gwadar, recollected that too many outsiders came to his hotel in 2002 to be
accommodated. "Many of them begged to be only allowed to park their cars
inside the hotel and were willing to sleep anywhere: on the ground, in the
garden or on a water tank," said Ghoram.
At the inauguration of Gwadar Port by Musharraf on March 23, 2008, many in
Gwadar believed their little town would transform into a new mega city like
Dubai. However, Pos Glory, which harboured at the port on March 15 and
departed on March 24 was the first and so far the only cargo vessel that
docked at Gwadar.
Decline: "Since that vessel arrived, the government has done nothing to
ensure the regular arrival of cargo at Gwadar Port. The investors have begun
to realize that Gwadar Port is unlikely to succeed in future due to the
government’s lack of seriousness," adds Ghoram.
A local journalist told Daily Times that while the dysfunctional port was
one of the reasons for the loss of investors’ faith in Gwadar, other factors
included massive land scams, worsening security situation, Baloch
nationalist resistance and absence of infrastructure.
"Things began to go out of control in August 2006 with the killing of Nawab
Akbar Bugti which caused a lot of hatred among the local Baloch people
against all outsiders, particularly the Punjabis," said the journalist.
Many real estate agencies based in the major cities allegedly sold plots to
their customers that were owned by other people. On their arrival to see the
purchased land, many of the buyers were stunned to know that their plots’
actual owner was not the real estate agent with whom they had brokered a
deal.
"Plots of land worth Rs 100,000 each were sold by unregistered non-local
real estate agents for Rs 3 million each to the rich people in other
provinces without showing them the site or valid documents," says a local
property dealer. “Today, no outsider is willing to come to a place where he
is hated, cheated and sees no signs of development at all,” he added.
However, many local Baloch property deals are glad that property business in
Gwadar has gone down to such an astounding extent because they had already
sold their lands to Pashtuns from Karachi, Quetta and the NWFP. They fear
that once Gwadar emerges as a city of business and economic development,
they would see the ownership of the land in the hands of those whom they
view as ‘outsiders’.