Pakistan is planning to transfer operational control of its strategically important Gwadar deep water port from Singapore’s PSA International to a Chinese company, according to a Pakistani minister.
“We have reached an agreement with PSA where they have decided to leave the port at Gwadar. They are in discussions with a possible Chinese investor,” Babar Ghauri, Pakistan’s minister of ports and shipping, told the Financial Times in an interview.
Although the transfer of management control is likely to be portrayed in both Pakistan and Singapore as a commercial decision, any step that increases Chinese influence over its ally Pakistan will be watched closely by the US and by India, Pakistan’s neighbour and regional rival.