Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan provinces have been facing unbridled violence for some time now. Chinese workers employed in the construction of various infrastructure projects have been the targets of some of these attack. The latest attempt was on 26 March, 2024 near Besham city in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, approximately 270 km from Islamabad. A convoy ferrying the Chinese from Islamabad to Dasu, the site of another major hydroelectric project, was targeted. A suicide attacker rammed an explosive loaded vehicle into the convoy, driving a vehicle off the road and into a deep gorge. The restive Baluchistan had witnessed an attack barely a few days back on 20 March, when armed men tried to enter the Gwadar Port office. The tally at Gwadar was seven separatists killed.
Chinese working at the Dasu hydroelectric project have been targeted earlier too. On 14 July 2021, nine Chinese workers were killed when a bus carrying them went into a gorge due to an explosion. Pakistan gave mechanical failure as the cause. The Chinese insisted it was an explosion in the bus.
Baluchistan is home to some of the biggest projects the Chinese are into as a part of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor.
On 5 May, 2024, The Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang met the Pakistani President and emphasized the issue of security for Chinese working in Pakistan. In fact, greater security is an old demand from the Chinese side. The Chinese have, in the past, also proposed sending their own personnel for protection of their assets and citizens. The Pakistani answer, so far, has been the raising of a new Special Security Division in 2016, to protect projects under the CPEC, and Chinese nationals working in them. The division reportedly, consists of 10,000 regulars and 6,000 para military personnel. After the Pearl Continental luxury hotel in Gwadar was attacked in May 2019, Maj Gen Gafoor, the then head of Inter Services Public Relations pf Pakistan, had said that they could be raising one more Special Security Division,
The situation in Gwadar creates a queer environment that can be exploited by the Chinese. The Chinese, of course,, cannot backtrack from the CPEC, having invested close to US$ 60 bn. It’s also an important asset that holds out strategic benefits for them. For Pakistan, the CPEC funding is a lifeline for its economy and provides strategic leverage in the Arabian Sea region. Should the scale of violence against CPEC assets and Chinese workers continue, the Chinese will surely want to use the opportunity to station their own troops in Pakistan. Pakistan’s repeated failure to stall the separatists provides the Chinese a strong plank to place their own military personnel.
Further, Gwadar Port has been leased by Pakistan to China for 40 years. Gwadar will prove to be a big asset for China. They would definitely want to use Gwadar as a base for stationing one of their marine brigades. The People’ss Liberation Army Marine Corps has been expanding. Various assessments in 2016 – 17 indicated a likely increase in strength of the Marine Corps from 20,000 to 1,00,000 personnel. Apparently, It may not be too long a wait to find Chinese marines in Gwadar.
It’s also a fact that the Iranian port of Chabahar is barely 100 nautical miles away and India is involved in its development. However, Chabahar is much smaller and primarily for maritime trade. The Chinese are keen to project power beyond the South China Sea. Off late, Indian Ocean is an area their ships are frequenting more. Apparently, an interesting tussle is in the making in the Arabian Sea!
Brig SK Chatterji (Retd)
