In November 2016, Gwadar port symbolized stability, peace and prosperity for Pakistan — at least according to then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
"This day is the dawn of a new era," he told the opening ceremony crowd, which had gathered to witness a row of Chinese trucks arriving to load cargo onto the first-ever container ship to pass through the port.
It was the official launch of the port's operations, nearly a decade after its completion. The ceremony also marked the start of the prestigious China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), part of China's global collection of infrastructure projects and trade networks known as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Yet today, nearly eight years later, this new era has yet to dawn. A DW analysis shows what went wrong.
The idea behind the CPEC was to connect China's western Xinjiang province with the sea via Pakistan. For China, this would shorten trade routes and help avoid the contentious Malacca Strait chokepoint, a narrow waterway between Malaysia and Sumatra that links the Indian and Pacific oceans. Pakistan, meanwhile, would benefit from increases in trade, infrastructure and industry along the 2,000-kilometer corridor (1,240 miles), all financed by China.
In addition to the already established port of Karachi, Gwadar was chosen to connect the corridor to the global shipping network. The small fishing city lies near the Iranian border, some 500 kilometers away from Karachi.
Gwadar's recently built deep sea port, completed in 2007 and handed over to a Chinese operating company in 2013, was to become the heart of the CPEC: It would be integrated into a new special economic zone that would transform Gwardar into a bustling port city.
The port has potential, says Azeem Khalid, an assistant professor of international relations at COMSATS University Islamabad who studies Chinese investments in Pakistan. "It is a natural deep sea port which can host bigger ships than Karachi. It sits at the crossroads of the global oil trade. And it would consolidate China's interests in the region," he told DW.
At home, China has already proven it can transform sleepy fishing villages into economic powerhouses. Shenzhen, China's first special economic zone, is the best example: In just four decades, the city's population grew from around 60,000 inhabitants to more than 17 million today.
"Back then, investors thought Gwadar would become the next Dubai,"........