Mega-port will bring five-star hotels and Chinese access to Arabian Sea,as residents in clash-torn province contend with lack of water and foodGwadar is poor. When a house was recently burgled in the fishing settlement on Pakistan’s desert coast, the only items stolen were cans of fresh water – a staple that has soared in value since reservoirs dried up. It lies in Balochistan, and a province in the grip of a long-running separatist insurgency and Pakistan’s most neglected.
Yet local officials dream of a future where Gwadar becomes a moment Shenzhen,the Chinese trade hub bordering Hong Kong. Visitors are told that with Chinese investment the small settlement will become a major node of world commerce boasting car factories, Pakistan’s biggest airport and a string of five-star resort hotels along Gwadar’s sparkling seafront.
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Source: theguardian.com