CONTINUITIES & DISCONTINUITIES OF MARITIME SECURITY: A CASE STUDY OF GWADAR

Abstract

Temporal continuality of maritime security exists across two eras in the port city of Gwadar: 19th century British colonialism; and 21st Century Chinese presence in the Chinese-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). This paper analyses this continuality and the difference between the two eras via three nodes: 1) infrastructure, 2) threat factors and 3) hegemonic power applications. The analysis emanates that infrastructural security transitioned from British telegraph lines and naval posts to CPEC port infrastructure; threat factors manoeuvred from local tribes and the Persian-British boundary during British Raj eras to Baluch nationalism and USA hegemony in the Indian Ocean during Chinese CPEC presence; hegemonic power moved from covert British expansionism and the Sultanate’s maritime control to China’s extraterritorial presence in Pakistan and liaison with the Pakistani armed forces to maintain healthy development. Hence, Gwadar's historical timeline mirrors a continuality in maritime security amidst infrastructural, threat, and consolidatory factors, where the colonial history of the region has necessitated China to adopt authoritative control measures as well. However, the exertion of these trends has seen a shift towards the localized measures of the British era towards a more globalized perspective in maritime security, reflected by the movement of power centres towards the national centre and the involvement of international actors. In these globalised times, it is stringently recommended that colonial skins of the past be shed in favour of Chinese cooperationism.