The Pakistani government early this month gave its nod to a proposal for Chinese government-owned China Overseas Port Holdings Ltd. to purchase control of Gwadar port from Singapore's PSA International, which had won the contract in 2007 to operate the port for 40 years.
With this, operational control of the strategic deep-water Gwadar port will go to China. New Delhi's reaction was as confused as ever with the Indian defense minister describing it as a matter of "serious concern" for India, but the external affairs minister suggested that India should not "overreact to everything that Pakistan does or everything that China is involved in."
China has always been keen on gaining a strategic toehold in the Arabian Sea and Gwadar has been an attractive option. Despite its problems, the Sino-Pak military collaboration too has been proceeding apace. Despite some suggesting that China's role in Gwadar would remain limited because of mounting troubles in Baluchistan and its keenness to avoid raising hackles in New Delhi and Washington, China has now taken the plunge into the murky waters of Gwadar.