Gwadar, known as the port city of Pakistan, was a small town of fishermen and traders. Until China looked at it, it was like this. But this fishing village is now Pakistan’s third largest port centre. However, it was not always belonging to Pakistan. It was under Omani rule for 200 years until the 1950s.
In 1958, Gwadar came under the occupation of Pakistan. Although it was offered to India, it was refused and rejected by the Indian government under the leadership of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru of the ruling Congress party. Gwadar was under the occupation of Omani Sultans since 1783. An esteemed officer of the Indian Army, Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal, in his article, India’s historical blunder that no one talks about.
It was a grave mistake not to accept this priceless gift from the Sultanate of Oman. This was equivalent to a long list of strategic blunders since independence. Now the question arises, how a small fishing town reach the Oman Sultan, and why did the Jawaharlal Nehru government refuse to accept the port city? What would have happened if India had captured Gwadar Port in 1956? These are some big questions.
Located on the Makran Coast, in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, Gwadar came under Omani occupation in 1783. Khan Mir Noori Naseer Khan Baloch of the Khanate of Kalat gifted the region to Sultan Bin Ahmed, the prince of Muscat. Pramit Pal Chaudhary, head of the South Asia at a Eurasia Group told an Indian media agency that “There was an agreement between the Prince and Khan of Kalat that if the prince sits on the throne of Oman, they will return Gwadar.”
Two other fishing village adjacent to Gwadar on the Pakistani coast Peshukan and Sur Bandar, were also under Oman occupation Sultan bin Ahmad made Gwadar a base for raids on the Arabian coast until in 1792 he found the throne of Muscat on which they had an eye. But Gwadar was not returned, it led to a dispute between Oman and Balochistan.
According to the Martin Woodwards article Gwadar: The Sultan’s Possessions between 1895 and 1904 both the Khan of Kalat and the British Indian government made proposals to buy Gwadar was governed by an agent of British. Meanwhile the Sultan of Oman continued negotiations with the British about a possible transfer in exchange for military and financial help against rebels.
Most of Balochistan was occupied by Pakistan in 1948, but the coastal strip around Gwadar was not included in 1952. That is Gwadar was still out of control of Pakistan. At the same time, Oman offered to sell Gwadar to India. If this deal would have happened, the geography and geopolitical history of South Asia would have changed.
According to the private conversations between two Indian diplomats with the record, the Sultan of Oman had offered to sell Gwadar to Indian PM Jawaharlal Nehru. Pramit Pal Chaudhary, the former member of the National Security Advisory Board (NSAB) told India today. Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal wrote in his article that “According to the rumours in the diplomatic community, after independence Gwadar was ruled by India on behalf of the Sultan of Oman as the two countries had very good relations
“I believe this proposal came in 1956 Jawaharlal Nehru turned it down and in 1958 Oman sold Gwadar to Pakistan for three million pounds. Archives has documents and some newspaper articles on the Gwadar dispute, but the views of Indian authorities have been edited and according to Gurmeet Kanwal. The offer was made orally.
Actually, the Jain community of India was interested in buying Gwadar from Oman. Azhar Ahmed wrote in his research paper, Gwadar: A Historical Kaleidoscope, documents made public by the British government show that he Jain community also offered to buy Gwadar. The Jains had a lot of wealth and could pay a good price. In 1958, after learning that India was interested in buying Gwadar, Pakistan intensified its efforts and struck a deal with the British government.
He said this based on the conversation he had with former Pakistani Foreign Secretary Akram Zaki in 2016. Zaki has served as an ambassador to China and US. Gwadar was given from Oman to British control, which later passed to Pakistan. Even though the British abandoned their colonies they maintained their presence in the region to counter USSR.
However, the Indian PM Jawaharlal Nehru did not alone arrive at the decision to reject Oman’s proposal The decision of rejecting Gwadar also came to the then foreign secretary Subimal Dutt and possibly the head of the Indian Intelligence Bureau B N Malik had recommended not accepting Sultan’s proposal,” national security expert Pramit Pal Chowdhury told a media organisation.
Had Nehru accepted and bought Gwadar it would have been an Indian territory in Pakistan, with no land access. The situation has been similar to what Pakistan had to face in terms of military relations with East Pakistan. “The argument was that Gwadar was untouched by any attack from Pakistan said Pramit Pal Chaudhary. Since Nehru was still hoping to build cordial relations with Pakistan an area like Gwadar was probably seen as provocation.
