China will get a direct opening to the Indian Ocean in May when Gwadar Port on Pakistan’s east coast becomes operational. Pakistan’s Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs was told last week that the port, which offers an alternative to the route through the congested Strait of Malacca off Singapore, will open to Chinese traffic even though the new highway linking the two countries is not yet complete. The committee heard that existing roads and highways from Gwadar Port northward across Pakistan to the Karakoram Pass and on into China’s northeastern Xinjiang territory will be used for the time being.
