Islamabad: Pakistan should review a deal with a Singaporean company to run a strategic shipping port, the Navy chief said, amid speculation the contract may go to key ally China.
Pakistan is keen to become a conduit for trade to landlocked Afghanistan and Central Asia and now has three major ports — Gwadar in Balochistan province and two at Karachi, 450km to the east.
Admiral Noman Bashir, also government adviser for maritime development, was quoted by Pakistan media calling for a review of the contract to run Gwadar with Singapore's PSA International Ltd because the port was not operating to expectations.
Great concern
"I'm saying this with great concern that the purpose for which the Gwadar port was built is not being achieved," Bashir told reporters in a news briefing shown on television yesterday.
"We have given them a lot of concessions and no commitment was taken from them in return. That's why this agreement should be reviewed."
PSA, which runs ports around the world and is owned by state wealth fund Temasek Holdings, declined to comment.
Conceived over a decade ago, Pakistan hoped Gwadar, 70km east of the Iranian border and on the doorstep of Gulf shipping lanes, would handle transshipment traffic for the Gulf.
Bashir's comments came on the heels of a media report last week saying the project may be given to China, which provided 80 per cent of its initial $248 million (Dh910 million) development costs.
