Gwadar Port as the Socioeconomic Pivot to China Pakistan Economic Corridor: Prospects and Repercussions

Abstract

China is emerging as an economic power of the world and correspondingly it has unleashed a strategy of its sustained economic growth alongside socioeconomic development of the region and beyond, through implementation of its envisaged grand Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). In this regard, Pakistanis accommodating China’s flagship project, China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The success of CPEC hinges on the unhindered development and sustenance of Gwadar Port for assured uninterrupted sea - land linkage of CPEC. Besides supporting CPEC, Gwadar Port has gigantic potential to contribute towards Pakistan’s socioeconomic development and improving socioeconomic stature of landlocked Central Asian States. Geopolitics always play its role in all regional and international developments which embody clash of interest among stakeholder states and development of Gwadar Port is no exception. Alongside enormous prospects of payoffs, Gwadar Port encounters serious challenges to its development and sustenance, which have not been much deliberated in academic discourses. This paper, besides ascertaining the socioeconomic impacts of Gwadar Port on Pakistan, China, regional states and CPEC, identifies international repercussions and domestic challenges to Gwadar Port’s success; thus help the policy makers to draw pertinent conclusions.