The decades old Sir Creek dispute between India and Pakistan had been technically resolved by relevant officials on both sides of the border and only a political decision by the governments of the two countries was needed to formally announce it, said security experts in a seminar on Friday held at the Institute of Policy Studies.
The seminar was titled “Pakistan: Maritime challenges and opportunities” and was aimed at “promoting awareness through intellectual discourse and enabling policy makers to address different dimensions of the topic”, said senior IPS Associate Commander (r) Azhar Ahmad, who moderated the event.
National Defense University (NDU) Department of International Relations Head Dr Muhammad Khan said the Sir Creek dispute of between Pakistan and India had been settled at the technical level, adding that only political will was now required to finalise the deal. Pakistan Navy and Defence Ministry representatives in the seminar also endorsed his opinion.
Former deputy chief of Naval Staff (Operations) and Vice Admiral (r) Iftikhar Rao, emphasised that Pakistan needed to update its maritime policy of 2002 and take into account the recent trends and developments.
He said Pakistan’s maritime areas were spread over 295,000 square kilometers and thus had to be considered as the largest and richest ‘province’ of the country to tap its real potential.
Underlining the significance of trade, mineral and strategic maritime potential, he said the world’s 97 percent and Pakistan’s 95 percent trade takes place through sea.
The Gwadar port needed to be equipped with necessary technology and infrastructure so that it becomes a starting point for an economic corridor towards China and to provide an ideal location for the necessary repair and maintenance of empty oil tankers entering the Gulf before reloading, he suggested.
Rao said Pakistan should emerge as a shipbuilding country as the shipbuilding industry had proven to be a catalyst for industrialisation in many countries with a deep sea shore and abundant labor force.
“The strategy has been approved and a policy board with the prime minister as its chairman has been notified since 2007 but real development is yet to be seen,” he said.
He also stressed the need for diplomatic efforts to counter India’s designs to dominate the Indian Ocean.
He revealed that the strategic islands of Nicobar and Andaman had 80 percent Muslim population at the time of the partition but the rule of Muslim-majority areas to become a part of Pakistan was not applied to them mainly because they were not claimed for by the political leadership of the Indian Muslims.
“Today, India has a three-star naval command based on these two islands through which it controls China’s maritime movement,” he said.
NDU Faculty of Contemporary Studies Dean Professor Dr Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema chaired the seminar which was attended by a number of maritime and defense experts, armed forces officials, representatives of the concerned ministries and government departments and academics.
