When China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was launched in 2015, much attention was paid to development of Gwadar port and city. Both sides had reached an agreement to develop Gwadar into a Smart City and a functional commercial port. For development projects in Gwadar, Chinese government committed to provide concessional loans and grants of more than USD 700 million. Pace of development work, however, has been slow. This has led to renewed push from Pakistan to refocus attention on Gwadar and Southern Balochistan. It was in this backdrop that Prime Minister Imran Khan undertook a day-long visit to the south-western port-city in first week of July.
Prime Minister’s visit focused on three aspects: a) review of development work in Gwadar and South Balochistan; b) inauguration of completed development and industrial projects; and c) China and Pakistan signed agreements on solar power generation and desalination plants for Gwadar and South Balochistan.
