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China-Built Pakistani Port Begins Handling Afghan Transit Trade

Ayaz Gul

   ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's newly opened southwestern Gwadar seaport has
   begun handling transit cargo headed to and from landlocked Afghanistan,
   marking a significant outcome of Islamabad's multi-billion-dollar
   collaboration with China.

   Officials said the first ship full of Afghan cargo containers reached
   Gwadar on Tuesday. The containers will be loaded onto trucks for
   transport to Afghanistan through the Pakistani border town of Chaman.

   Kabul traditionally has relied on Pakistani overland routes and the two
   main southern seaports of Karachi and Port Qasim for international
   trade under a bilateral deal with Islamabad, known as the Afghan
   Transit Trade Agreement (ATTA).

   The recent Chinese financial and construction efforts, though, have
   activated the strategically located Arabian Sea deep-water port of
   Gwadar, which offers a much shorter overland link, particularly to
   southern regions of Afghan, for the rapid delivery of goods.

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