The biggest symbol of Chinese maritime strategy in the Indian Ocean has been the construction of a new deep sea port at Gwadar on Pakistan’s Makran coast and at the very mouth of the oil rich Persian Gulf. China had provided nearly 75 per cent of the US $ 300 million that cost the first phase of the port.

The surprising winner for the contract for Gwadar port operations has been Singapore’s PSA. It is believed that Pakistan was under considerable US pressure not to hand over the management of the port to the companies of the People’s Republic of China. Apparently Washington was not prepared to countenance Chinese strategic presence at a location of such vital interest to the US.

After awarding the contract to Singapore, Pakistani officials said PRC firms had not participated in the bidding for the Gwadar management contract. It appears that Pakistan Army had taken a conscious decision to “depoliticise” the international concerns on Gwadar by offering it to non-controversial Singapore. New Delhi, too, should be pleased with friendly Singapore running the port.

Missile defence

The conventional political wisdom in New Delhi has been that China is opposed to missile defence programmes which seek to limit the effectiveness of a nuclear attack by intercepting the delivery systems. China, however, is now signaling a change of approach: If you can’t stop the US and Japan from developing missile defences, you might as well join them.

In its latest defence white paper, published last week, Beijing has signaled its plans to develop advanced air and missile defence systems. Reports from Pakistan also indicate that China is offering some of these systems to Islamabad.

... contd.