Gwadar Port has potential to turn Pakistan into ‘maritime power’
KARACHI: Maritime economy and environment remained in focus on the second day of the Sixth International Maritime Conference on Sunday.
The three-day conference has been organised by the National Centre for Maritime Policy Research (NCMPR) in collaboration with the Pakistan Navy at a local hotel.
“China has pledged $52 billion for infrastructure projects in Pakistan, of which $32bn is to be spent exclusively on energy projects in the next five years. If this materialises, Pakistan will become one of the largest recipients of Chinese outbound investment,” said Mustafa Hyder Sayed, executive director of the Pakistan-China Institute, while presenting his paper titled “Pakistan and the Maritime Silk Route”.
Also read: Gwadar Port to become operational in May, senate committee told
In his paper called “The analysis on China’s Indian Ocean strategy”, Zhiyong Hu, a senior fellow at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, discussed the growing importance of the Indian Ocean and China’s ocean strategy in the 21st century. “China took some measures to maintain its security and navigation safety, but at present, because China’s navy lacks advanced equipment, it cannot provide enough strength to safeguard its forces,” he remarked.
Retired Rear Admiral Dr Rakesh Chopra of India had “Maritime politics and challenges of the Indo-Pacific region” as the topic of his paper. “It is a region where the global centre of gravity is shifting and, therefore, requires examination,” he said.
Rear Admiral J.J. Ranasinghe, commander of the Southeastern Naval Area, Sri Lanka, spoke on “International law framework in relation to people smuggling and its ability to combat modern instances of people smuggling”.
“The organised human smugglers operating through transnational networks have chosen rich developed countries as their most preferred destinations,” he said.
During the session on trade and economy, Dr Azhar Ahmad shed light on the Gwadar-Kashgar corridor and its potential impact on the region.
“Despite having a long coastline and overwhelming economic dependence on sea, Pakistan has not been able to evolve into a true maritime nation. However, development of the Gwadar Port, at the crown of the Arabian Sea, has provided Pakistan with a unique opportunity to claim its status as an important maritime power,” he said.
The oceans are vital for security and economic life of the littoral states. But at the same time it is each state’s responsibility to safeguard the oceans and the marine life. Keeping this in view, the second day’s final session highlighted environmental issues vis-a-vis the Indo-Pacific region.
Whereas Dr Yimin Ye of the Food and Agriculture Organisation gave a comparison of the fishery management practices in the Northwest Pacific region with those of the West Indian Ocean region, retired Captain Tariq Masood, director of the NCMPR, talked about the ship breaking industry of Pakistan and how it could be made environmentally safe.
Prof Sikander Ahmed Shah of LUMS, former chief of the naval staff retired Admiral Shahid Karimullah, retired Commodore Syed M. Obaidullah and Federal Secretary of Climate Change Division Arif Ahmed Khan also spoke on the occasion.
The conference will conclude on Monday (today).
Published in Dawn February 16th , 2015
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