China’s plan to massively finance Iran’s development is a calculated kick aimed at America’s strategic objectives and Indian ambition to play against China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). It is also an ‘in your face’ response to America’s aggressive trade, technology, and military moves against China.
For the next twenty-five years, China will invest more than $400 billion in different construction fields. This is an enormous amount China is going to invest in a single country. A large portion of this multi-billion dollar project would be invested in Iran’s oil & gas sector, Where Iran will supply its oil & gas with a 12% discount to China. From the current capacity of 2 to 3 million barrels, Iran will be able to increase its full capacity to 5-6 million per day. Chines Giants oil & gas companies CNPC, CNOC, Sinopec — can rapidly expand Iran’s oil and gas production from existing and new fields.
A considerable part of Iran’s gas could be exported via the existing Turkmenistan-China gas pipeline and new oil pipelines can be constructed on the same route. It will decrease China’s dependency over US-friendly oil-producing states, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, and Qatar in the gulf as well as Indonesia Brunei in South East Asia. In the case of China -Iran maritime blockade from the US and its security partners, China would bypass maritime routes by land pipelines passing through Iran Turkmenistan, & other central Asian states which gradually falling in China’s economic and political orbit.
Chinese investment is not only confined to oil & gas sectors, but it will cover the very essence of infrastructures, roads, highways, bridges, industrial complexes, special economic zones, agriculture, and most important in military domains. From high-speed railways to prime land routes, a web of trade routes aimed to materialize the true objectives of the Chinese Belt & Road initiative. China wants to bypass US maritime threats to connect western parts of China with the rest of the region, from Iran to Turkey and then European countries.
Iran is under US coercion. Its nuclear program is a bedrock for its economy which is surviving against US economic sanctions, battered economic conditions, and security threats from Washington. China is taking its own strategic calculation to defuse US interest in the region. Despite US economic sanctions, Chinese support to Iran is clearly indicates Chinese policy for the regional connectivity Via Belt & Road Initiative and to prick the balloon of US strategy “maximum pressure against Iran’s nuclear and missile program”.
India’s strategic ambitions to invest In Iran’s seaport Chabahar is in shaky condition due to the lack of financial support. India has a plan to connect the Iranian port with the rest of major trade routes and the Hajikak district of Afghanistan where India wants to invest in tapped and untapped natural resources, worth of billion dollars. The agreement was signed in 2016, but the future of India’s strategic plan on Irani soil is taking its last breaths. China is filling the gap with a more financial package.
Time is running out for India to make a strategic choice between an ‘Asian Order’, combining China, Russia, Iran, Pakistan, Turkey, and Central Asia under the SCO and the BRI, or an alliance with the US and participation in its ‘Indo-Pacific’ strategy. It is an opening “window” for Pakistan to get access to the oil-rich Central Asian states. Pakistan can utilize this opportunity as a grand landmark for better economic activities via CPEC and Gwadar port. According to Iranian foreign minister, Gwadar port and Chabahar can play roles of “twin sister’s “.
Qaiser Mahmood, Student of International Relations, International Islamic university Islamabad