Place In News
Port of Pasni
- 09 Oct 2025
- 2 min read
Pakistan has reportedly offered the US to build a port at Pasni, near Gwadar in Balochistan, giving Washington potential maritime access close to Iran’s border.
- The Pasni port proposal aims to reduce Pakistan’s reliance on China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), attract US investment, and export critical minerals.
- Strategic Location: The Port of Pasni located on the Arabian Sea is a small deep-water harbour in Balochistan’s Gwadar district, featuring a fish harbour, and a Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) base.
- Port of Pasni lies near the Iran-Pakistan border, east of China-backed Gwadar Port, and close to India’s Chabahar Port, forming a key strategic maritime triangle linking Chabahar (India-Iran), Gwadar (China-Pakistan), and Pasni (US-Pakistan).
- Strategic Significance: The rich mineral deposits in the region, especially those related to rare earth mining rights, add an economic layer to the strategic importance of the Port of Pasni.
- Meanwhile, China's involvement in Gwadar Port under the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), could bring rival superpowers into close proximity, escalating the strategic rivalry in the region.
- The Pasni–Gwadar–Chabahar triangle could become a new geopolitical hotspot, intertwining maritime security, energy routes, and great power rivalry.
- This move could undermine India’s Chabahar Port project, which provides a trade route to Afghanistan and Central Asia bypassing Pakistan. The US withdrawal of the Chabahar sanctions waiver further complicates India’s role.
| Read more: Iran, Pakistan, and the Baloch Militancy |
