Can India ignore the unrest in Balochistan?
Over 870 km of the 2700 km long CPEC, from Gwadar to Kashgar, runs through Balochistan. The unrest in Balochistan combines exploitation of the region’s natural resources and the Pakistani genocide unleashed on the Balochis, backed by China, which has also gifted four attack helicopters to Pakistan to hunt down BLA cadres
Media reports, citing the Pakistan military, stated that five people including a naval soldier were killed and six were injured (including two army captains, two navy soldiers and two hotel employees) after gunmen stormed the Pearl Continental, a five-star luxury hotel in Gwadar in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province on May 12, 2019.
Pakistan’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) claimed the gunmen forced their way into the hotel’s main hall, killing a security guard and firing indiscriminately while attempting to reach the building’s upper floors. Military troops managed to reach the hotel, secure guests and restrict attackers to the fourth floor, before killing them.
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the attack, terming it Operation Zer Pahazang, with “all aims achieved”. The BLA statement said the operation was launched because of the presence of many Chinese and local investors at the hotel, the aim being to target investors, engineers and representatives of those bringing “exploitative” projects in Balochistan. BLA claims more than 40 Pakistani soldiers, including two captains and several commissioned officers, were killed in the 24-hour battle. It is not possible to fully substantiate the BLA claim, but a cover-up by ISPR is evident. By ISPR’s own admission, gunmen killed security guards and fired indiscriminately, and the military eventually contained them only on the fourth floor. There was a time gap before the military arrived, during which the gunmen had a free run up to the fourth floor. The military apparently was taken by surprise, suffering casualties trying to reach the fourth floor to tackle the gunmen. Reports suggest that at least six Chinese and 16 Pakistani soldiers were killed. wounded. Earlier, on November 23, 2018, BLA cadres had attacked the Chinese Consulate in Karachi. The shootout with police and security guards left seven people dead. It was the 12th attack on Chinese interests in Pakistan in 2018.
China’s concern for the safety of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is genuine, given its strategic significance to China, highway to the Arabian Sea with Gwadar proximate to the Persian Gulf and the Straits of Hormuz. What must have transpired between Beijing and Islamabad after the BLA attack is not difficult to discern in the backdrop of Pakistan’s assurance and commitment that it will guard the CPEC when the USD 62 billion deal was signed (51 agreements and M0Us) on April 20, 2015 during the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Pakistan.
That is why Pakistan has announced plans to raise another division-sized special force to guard the CPEC. This is over and above a division already deployed to secure the CPEC, which was raised after the deal was signed. Major General Asif Ghafoor, DG ISPR, told media in Rawalpindi that Pakistan’s Army was fully determined to ensure security of the CPEC.
Over 870 km of the 2700 km long CPEC, from Gwadar to Kashgar, runs through Balochistan. The unrest in Balochistan combines exploitation of the region’s natural resources and the Pakistani genocide unleashed on the Balochis, backed by China, which has also gifted four attack helicopters to Pakistan to hunt down BLA cadres. Aside from daily abductions, torture, rapes and killings of Balochis, Pakistan is running multiple concentration camps in Balochistan; two in Nushki district in Western Balochistan, one in Dera Bugti in Eastern Balochistan and one in Awaran in Southern Balochistan, with the latter also serving as a training camp for the Lashkar-e-Taiba.
The security of the CPEC will, therefore, remain a concern for both countries, despite Chinese marines being stationed at Gwadar and a brigade-sized presence in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.
China’s dilemma will be the consequences of the PLA getting involved in insurgencies in Pakistan, including its repercussions on the present and future Chinese presence in Afghanistan. China must acknowledge that behind the turmoil in West Asia, the Gulf and possible war in Iran, are oil, geopolitical power play and promotion of defence-industrial interests. How then does China expect others especially India - to believe that the CPEC will remain free from such considerations? And, then, can India sit back and do nothing?