Land handed over to Chinese company for establishing Gwadar free zone: Ahsan Iqbal

KARACHI: Land has been handed over to a Chinese company for establishment of a free zone at Gwadar, minister planning and development Ahsan Iqbal said on Friday.

He was speaking at programme Aaj Shahzaib Khanzada Kay Saath. An express way and airport is also being established at Gwadar, he added.

“Land routes from Quetta till Gwadar will be completed by the end of 2016, while roads connecting Gwadar to Central Asia will be completed after December this year,” he said.

The statement came after India confirmed it will sign a commercial contract with Iran to build and run a strategic port at Iran’s southern coast to help gain a foothold in Iran and win access to central Asia and Afghanistan.

Talks to build the Chabahar port have been on for years but since the scaling back of Western sanctions against Iran, India has pushed hard for the project so it doesn’t lose out to other such as China, who are keen to invest.

The deal under which India will develop two terminals and cargo berths at Chabahar, on the Gulf of Oman, will be signed during a visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Iran beginning on Sunday.