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.
This is a follow up of the first review @ https://palepurshankar.blogspot.com/2020/03/the-corona-combat-review-of-situation.html General We are now into Day 10 of our lockdown. Midway point of Phase 1 of the battle with the Chinese Virus. Approaching Phase 2 shortly. Critical times ahead. Time for a review of the situation. The PM has spoken to us today. He has just told all of something very important. India is with Indians and Indians are with India. Though we are isolated we remain collected in this fight. Have faith. Economic packages have been rolled out for the poor and for taking care of the common man as well as the industry. At this point of time, I guess that is what the government can do, and it has done that. If the need arises more will be done. I am confident of that. At least for the needy. Overall, we are winning it where superpowers, wannabe superpowers, have been superpowers are losing / lost it. The collective response of India has been simply fantas...
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.