It inherited India’s most troublesome
border, the North-West Frontier with Afghanistan, and it was a state split into two noncontiguous
regions with little to hold it together, as one thousand miles of Indian territory separated West
Pakistan from East Pakistan. Alaska and the rest of the United States have managed the problem of
noncontiguous distance without difficulty, but they are culturally, linguistically, and economically
linked and operating in a stable environment. The only connection between the two parts of Pakistan
was Islam. They never really came together, so it was no surprise when they were torn apart; in 1971,
East Pakistan rebelled against the dominance of West Pakistan, India intervened and, after much
bloodshed, East Pakistan seceded, becoming Bangladesh.
Baluchistan is of crucial importance: while it may contain only a small minority of Pakistan’s
population, without it there is no Pakistan. It comprises almost 45 percent of the country and holds
much of its natural gas and mineral wealth. Another source of income beckons with the proposed
overland routes to bring Iranian and Caspian Sea oil up through Pakistan to China. The jewel in this
particular crown is the coastal city of Gwadar. Many analysts believe this strategic asset was the
Soviet Union’s long-term target when it invaded Afghanistan in 1979: Gwadar would have fulfilled
Moscow’s long-held dream of a warm-water port. The Chinese have also been attracted by this jewel
and invested billions of dollars in the region. A deep-water port was inaugurated in 2007 and the two
countries are now working to link it to China. In the long run, China would like to use Pakistan as a
land route for its energy needs. This would allow it to bypass the Strait of Malacca, which as we saw
in chapter two is a choke point that could strangle Chinese economic growth.
border, the North-West Frontier with Afghanistan, and it was a state split into two noncontiguous
regions with little to hold it together, as one thousand miles of Indian territory separated West
Pakistan from East Pakistan. Alaska and the rest of the United States have managed the problem of
noncontiguous distance without difficulty, but they are culturally, linguistically, and economically
linked and operating in a stable environment. The only connection between the two parts of Pakistan
was Islam. They never really came together, so it was no surprise when they were torn apart; in 1971,
East Pakistan rebelled against the dominance of West Pakistan, India intervened and, after much
bloodshed, East Pakistan seceded, becoming Bangladesh.
Baluchistan is of crucial importance: while it may contain only a small minority of Pakistan’s
population, without it there is no Pakistan. It comprises almost 45 percent of the country and holds
much of its natural gas and mineral wealth. Another source of income beckons with the proposed
overland routes to bring Iranian and Caspian Sea oil up through Pakistan to China. The jewel in this
particular crown is the coastal city of Gwadar. Many analysts believe this strategic asset was the
Soviet Union’s long-term target when it invaded Afghanistan in 1979: Gwadar would have fulfilled
Moscow’s long-held dream of a warm-water port. The Chinese have also been attracted by this jewel
and invested billions of dollars in the region. A deep-water port was inaugurated in 2007 and the two
countries are now working to link it to China. In the long run, China would like to use Pakistan as a
land route for its energy needs. This would allow it to bypass the Strait of Malacca, which as we saw
in chapter two is a choke point that could strangle Chinese economic growth.
No comments:
Post a Comment