Aadi and I had a very lively discussion on where Pakistan is headed and the imminence of its collapse. It was a live session with lot of questions. The Q&A session was outstanding.
The Pakistani FM to BBC: War would be suicidal. Pakistan has already started negotiating with a gun to its head! Welcome home Wing Commander Abhinanadan. Well done. You flew into the Valley of Death and survived. India is proud. Sincere condolences to Air Marshal Waseem Ud Din on the loss of his son Shahaz Ud Din under most unfortunate circumstances. He was incredibly brave to continue his mission when others had turned around. Paradigm Emerged A lot has happened since Balakot. Some in focus some out. Some hyped. Some diffused. Time to sum up the situation and see where things are heading. Militarily it is called Review of the Situation. I will do it journalistically so that the intellectual western media understands it. They might or not buy our story. Incidentally it is not a story. It is not for sale. This is real live action. Nuclear exchange receding. Not ruled out. A fundamental paradigm has emerged. India’s fight is ag...
Gwadar is going to be a hub of Central Asia trade. There isn't much shipping going on currently to Gwadar. However, the infrastructure is already there. There are three large berths for cargo ships. The CPEC built Eastbay Expressway was recently opened linking Gwadar to the national highway. Uzbekistan began construction of the Trans-Afghan Railway to Peshawar in March with an eye on using Gwadar and Karachi as landlocked Uzbekistan's outlets to the world.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the most interesting thing about Gwadar is the one project that isn't being built. There is no actively pursued plan to build a railway linking Pakistan with Xinjiang. The Long Term Plan (2017-30) says nothing about a railway between the countries. https://www.pc.gov.pk/uploads/cpec/LTP.pdf That shows China doesn't view CPEC as mainly strategic, it's mainly commercial.