A proposed U.S.-funded port in the southern Pakistani city of Pasni would add to the geopolitical intrigue on the country’s Arabian Sea coast. (Nikkei montage/ Source photos by Reuters)
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan is exploring a proposal to develop a new port at Pasni, a town in the country’s south, with U.S. investment to facilitate exports of critical minerals, potentially intensifying geopolitical competition on the Arabian Sea coastline.
According to media reports, Pakistan has floated the idea of building a port and railway line to connect Pasni with the country’s mineral-rich areas. Officials peg the cost of the project at $1.2 billion, a fair portion of which they expect to be funded by the U.S.
Pakistani officials also told state broadcaster Pakistan TV that the proposal is a purely exploratory commercial idea at this stage and has not been submitted to the U.S. through official channels.
Pasni, site of the proposed port, is a town of 45,000 people. It is located 140 kilometers east of Gwadar, which is home to a Chinese-controlled port that is part of its Belt and Road Initiative. Beijing has spent over $1 billion building a port, an airport and highway infrastructure in the area.
Gwadar, however, has remained underutilized for a decade due to attacks by Baloch separatists and governance problems in Pakistan.
“The success of the new port project in Pasni will depend on how much risk the investor is willing to swallow upfront,” Adam Weinstein, a research fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft in the U.S, told Nikkei Asia. “Half measures won’t work.”
Muhammad Shoaib, a postdoctoral fellow at George Mason University in the U.S., agrees. “Only a bold and risk-acceptant investor, not concerned with returns on their investment, will pledge resources for the project,” he said.
If the proposal comes to fruition, a port at Pasni could offer the U.S. a strategic foothold near Gwadar, a key node in China’s Belt and Road, and would likely frustrate Beijing.
Hong Zhang, an assistant professor at Indiana University, said the proposal signals that certain factions within Pakistan’s elite are seeking to balance the country’s relations with the U.S. and China. “Whether the proposal itself advances is of secondary importance. The political message is clear enough,” she said.
“Chinese actors are by now well aware of Pakistan’s ambivalence, and [of] its efforts to play one power against the other,” she told Nikkei. “They are likely factoring this into their strategic calculations for future investment in Pakistan.”
Shoaib also noted the proposal “must be frustrating for the Chinese,” as their investment in Gwadar has yet to yield financial benefits. “Amid this, the U.S. establishing a port next to Gwadar will concern them, as their strategic partner [Pakistan], after much fanfare over the [China-Pakistan Economic Corridor], has moved on to explore new options,” he said, referring to the Pakistan portion of the Belt and Road.
Zhang questioned the need for another deep-sea port to transport minerals from Pakistan. “From an economic standpoint, there is no clear reason why the existing [Gwadar] port could not serve that purpose, unless, of course, the motivations are primarily political,” she said.
Locals expressed a mix of skepticism and cautious optimism.
“Local people point out that even the Gwadar Port is not functioning fully, so they question the need for another port just 100 to 150 kilometers away,” said Nasir Sohrabi, president of the Rural Community Development Council of Gwadar. “However, some also argue that when major powers take an interest in a project, they find ways to make it work,” he told Nikkei.
Meanwhile, the U.S. last week revoked a sanctions waiver granted to India to operate Chabahar Port in Iran. The port aims to facilitate trade with Afghanistan, while Trump wants the Taliban government to hand over Bagram Airfield to the U.S. There is some speculation the U.S. might consider a port at Pasni an alternative to Chabahar as a connection to Afghanistan.
Shoaib called that idea far-fetched. “Pakistan couldn’t operationalize Gwadar for Afghanistan in the past, and operationalizing Pasni would face similar challenges,” he said. “A short-term arrangement only for the U.S. is possible. But without stable Pak-Afghan relations and a liberal trade regime between the two, [a] port [at Pasni] dedicated to Afghanistan is economically unfeasible,” he said.
The article was published in the asia.nikkei