Feroze Khan Noon, the seventh Prime Minister of Pakistan, has been in power for less than a year, but his purchase of Gwadar from the Sultan of Muscat is an achievement that will always be remembered.
On August 12, 1958, a letter appears in the British Archives that is stamped 'Secret'. This letter is related to the handover of Gwadar to Pakistan, in which it is written that 'after the recent meetings in London, the Sultan of Muscat has agreed to hand over Gwadar to Pakistan , but he has said that they should be withdrawn from Gwadar. It will take some time.
"The Prime Minister of Pakistan has also given us a map on Gwadar which is attached. Although we do not agree with the position taken in this paper which describes the history of Gwadar till 1947. We believe that if this letter is published, it may anger the Sultan. So we want it not to be published until the Sultan hands over Gwadar to Pakistan.'
Feroze Khan Noon's threat which worked
Feroze Khan Noon, who became the seventh Prime Minister of Pakistan. His reign lasted less than a year, but his purchase of Gwadar from the Sultan of Muscat is an achievement that will always be remembered. In this regard, he writes in his book 'Chasham Deed' that the history of our era will remain incomplete without the mention of Gwadar. This 2,400 square mile area was returned to Pakistan, but this achievement was neither celebrated nor publicized. I had promised Britain and our President Sikandar Mirza that no celebrations would be held on this occasion as there was a fear of hurting the feelings of the Sultan of Muscat.
Pakistan's Qurtas Abeyd regarding Gwadar was mentioned by the British Commonwealth Office and requested Pakistan not to publish it until the Sultan handed over Gwadar to Pakistan.
This qurtas was prepared by Abeez M. Ikramullah, who was the High Commissioner of Pakistan in London. Feroze Khan Noon later quoted the same Qurtas Abayd in his Dastan Hayat, he writes that '45 miles east of the southern coast of Pakistan where Iran's borders meet the Arabian Sea is the port of Gwadar. A prince of Muscat took refuge with the ruler of Kalat in 1781. The ruler of Kalat was then a sovereign king, who assigned the annual revenue of Gwadar, amounting to 84 tankas (probably 84 rupees), to the prince for his pastimes. Later, when this prince became the king of Muscat, he retained his possession of Gwadar and did not hand it over to Kalat, although he was no longer dependent on Gwadar's revenue.
The British conquered Qalat in 1839 and became the ruler here. The ruler of Kalat later demanded the return of Kalat in 1861. Britain intervened between Kalat and Muscat, but refrained from deciding in favor of either. When Pakistan was established in 1947, the government of Pakistan once again raised this issue and negotiations were held in 1949 which could not reach any decision.
"After that the matter was left there but when I was appointed as the Foreign Minister in 1956, I asked for the papers related to Gwadar and after studying the matter carefully, I started negotiations through the British Government. Britain had a difficult task ahead of it. On one side was a member of the commonwealth, on the other was the loyal Sultan Muscat, with whom he had been intimate for a hundred and fifty years.
'The interests of both of them conflicted with each other. My expectations sometimes rose and sometimes fell. The negotiations continued. Even in 1957, I took over the duties of the Prime Minister. I raised the point of law for the first time in the history of this case that Gwadar was a Jagir, an area of the State assigned to a person to collect the taxes due to the State and to hold it as his own. Set aside for overtime or consider this amount as your salary.
"With such assistance, the question of transfer of supreme power does not arise. We have canceled all the jagirs in Pakistan which were given to many people from Britain as a reward for their services or for other political reasons. Since Gwadar was also a Jagir, it could be revoked and possession of the area was also possible. I did not mention this argument as a threat to Britain, but it was a legal point that could be of use to us in the event of a court action.
The British government was caught in a big dilemma. If Pakistan's army occupied it, would the British government have bombed or massacred the country, a member of the Commonwealth, whose symbolic head is Queen Elizabeth herself? Pakistan's stay in the commonwealth proved to be very beneficial for it. I heartily acknowledge the fair stand which Mr. Macmillan, Mr. Sloan Lloyd and the Commonwealth Minister, Lord Home, have taken in this whole matter.
"They didn't put pressure on any side, so Gwadar was transferred very smoothly. As long as Gwadar was in the hands of a foreign country, I felt like we were living in a house with a stranger's back room." and this alien can at any time sell it to a power hostile to Pakistan and that enemy power can pay a huge amount for this deal.'
How much was Gwadar bought?
Another letter dated August 29, 1958, from the Foreign Office in Muscat is in the British archives, in which it is stated that Pakistan has assured to deposit £2.7 million in the account of the British Embassy in Washington by September 2. Is. As soon as the money is received, Sultan will then start handing over Gwadar to Pakistan.
After receiving the money, Sultan handed over Gwadar to Pakistan on September 8. In this regard, a bilateral agreement was reached on December 8. This amount is about 30 million pounds in today's terms and at today's exchange rate, it is 11 billion 10 million rupees.
Feroze Khan Noon made Gwadar a part of Pakistan's map through successful diplomacy. Today, after the construction of Gwadar port, its value is more than 100 billion dollars, which is seen as a pillar of economic strength of Pakistan. If Feroze Khan Noon had not done this, the conflict of Gwadar might have become a bigger headache for Pakistan today than the conflict of Kashmir.
The matter of naming Gwadar Airport after Feroz Khan Noon
Feroze Khan Noon was not only the Prime Minister of Pakistan, but he was one of the close associates of Quaid-i-Azam. He was a leading leader of Tehreek-e-Pakistan.
Gwadar Airport which is in the final stages of completion with the assistance of 246 million dollars from China. On August 2 this year, the National Assembly jointly passed a resolution to name the new international airport of Gwadar after Feroze Khan Noon, while on the other hand Balochistan's nationalist parties opposed it, due to Feroze. Khan Noon has to be Punjabi.
Former Chief Minister of Balochistan Abdul Malik Baloch wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that the name of Gwadar Airport should not be changed, while Farhatullah Babar wrote that it is not necessary to change the name of Gwadar Airport, if it is to be done, it should be done by the National Assembly. No, it is the authority of the Balochistan Assembly.
On the other hand, the local people of Gwadar want to see this airport attributed to one of their local heroes, Hamal Jind Kalmati. Kalamati did not allow the Portuguese invaders to gain a foothold in Gwadar in the 15th century, after which the Portuguese made Goa their trading hub instead of Gwadar.
An American diplomat : Is the Chinese Defense Minister under house arrest?
TOKYO: US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel asked in a post on the X platform on Friday whether the Chinese Defense Minister was under house arrest, adding to the confusion over the State Councilor's absence from public appearances for two weeks.
“First: Defense Minister Li Changfu has not been seen or heard from for three weeks,” Emanuel wrote. Second: He did not appear during his visit to Vietnam. Now: He is absent from a scheduled meeting with the Commander of the Singapore Navy because he is under house arrest?
He added: “As Shakespeare wrote in Hamlet: There is something corrupt in the state of Denmark,” referring to China.
The Foreign and Defense Ministries in Beijing have not yet responded to requests for comment. The US Embassy in Tokyo said it had no additional comment yet.
In exclusive news, Reuters reported yesterday, Thursday, that Le suddenly withdrew from a meeting with Vietnamese defense leaders last week.
He was last seen in Beijing on August 29, giving a speech at a security forum with African countries.
The Financial Times reported today, citing three US officials and two sources familiar with intelligence information, that the US government believes Lee is under investigation. The report did not clarify the nature of this investigation.
Li's absence follows China's unexplained decision to replace Foreign Minister Qin Zhang in July after a long absence from public appearances and a change in command of the Rocket Force, an elite force of the People's Liberation Army, in recent months.
Like Li, Chen is one of China's five members of the State Council, a cabinet position higher than that of minister.
These moves raised questions from analysts and diplomats about the lack of transparency and unpredictability of the decision-making process in the Chinese leadership.
It appears that the Singapore meeting referred to by the American ambassador in his post is a visit made by Singapore Navy Commander Sean Watt to China in the period from the fourth to the ninth of this month.
Torkham crossing : Reopening of the border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan 9 days after an armed clash
The main Torkham crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan returned to operation for pedestrians and vehicles on Friday morning, 9 days after it was closed due to an armed clash that broke out between the border guards of the two countries.
A Pakistani official announced the reopening of the main border crossing with Afghanistan on Friday, after it was closed for nine days due to an armed clash between the two countries' border guards.
The Torkham border crossing between the two neighboring countries was closed on September 6 after border guard forces from both sides exchanged fire, which led to the closure of the crossing and halted the movement of passengers and the crossing of trucks loaded with goods.
A security official in Torkham, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, said, “A series of talks between Pakistani and Afghan officials resolved the problem and the border was opened.”
He added that thousands of loaded vehicles were stuck on both sides of the border at the crossing point located in northwestern Pakistan.
The Pakistani authorities accused the Taliban administration of trying to encroach on their territory by constructing an "illegal building" and accused the Afghan forces of "firing randomly."
Meanwhile, the Taliban Foreign Ministry said that Pakistani security forces opened fire on Afghan forces while they were repairing an old security site near the border.
The Torkham border crossing is one of the most important points of trade exchange between the two countries, as Afghanistan exports coal through it and imports food and some other supplies from Pakistan.