Gwadar port a security challenge if Chinese naval ships use it: Navy chief

New Delhi, Dec 1 (IANS) The use of Gwadar port, a commercial port in Balochistan, by China in the future to dock its naval ships would pose a security challenge for India, Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba said on Friday.

"If Chinese naval ships are to be based in Gwadar in future, it will pose security challenge to us, which we will have to look at and mitigate," the Navy chief said but refused to comment any further.

"Chinese commercial companies have acquired majority stakes in the port. I am not aware of any Chinese submarines or ships operating from there. There is no information available that Gwadar will be a naval port for the Chinese Navy. It is a commercial harbour, part of the CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor)," Lanba said at an annual press conference ahead of the Navy Day on December 4.

Gwadar is a deep-sea port in the Arabian Sea in Balochistan province of Pakistan, close to Iran.

China, which presently has around 80 per cent of its oil imports coming through the Strait of Malacca, has been looking at the port to provide an alternate route.