How exactly are you going too build a railway line too Iran by bypassing pakistan???
We are not building a railway line TO Iran. The line is connecting Chabahar to Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and eventually Russia as per the completion of the INSTC corridor. There is already a sea corridor connecting Mumbai and Gujarat with chabahar, the next step is rail connection between the CA republics.
Cough...pakistani waters....cough
First of all, Pak's eez is only 200 miles from its cost. Also, cargo ships have the right to use another countries eez for navigational purposes. EEZ simply means the country has the exclusive rights to economic exploitation of those waters, such as fishing and oil exploration.
If push comes to shove, I guess that is what the Navy is for. The main reason countries have navies is to protect its trade routes. India already has a heavy presence in the region and even has a radar station in Oman. But don't worry, Pakistan won't try anything funny in international waters.
Trade today is containerised. Loading these and unloading is a doddle achieved in MINUTES. You dont question how China will load trains/lorries and load/unload them at Gwadar when using ships
Not to mention, how is Pakistan supposed to transport its goods to China's far East, the population center of China, from a small port in the southwestern most part of Pakistan? Especially considering a lot of CHina's infrastructure in Xinjiang and Tibet is relatively poor. China is smart enough to know that it will never get enough fuel to sustain its economy that way, which is why it will continue to be forced to use the Malacca straits, which are controlled by India. CPEC is simply a debt trap diplomacy plan, no different to what China attempted to do In Sri Lanka and Maldives. Obviously Pakistan will see some economic benefit, and they honestly need everything they can get, but some Pakistanis are not able to see that China has its own intentions behind CPEC that are in no way altruistic.
Also take in the consideration, what amount of travel China want to cut via Gawadar.
On other hand you have to use the route just bcoz Pakistan is not opening.
Except China won't be able to cut any travel time with Gwadar. Gwadar is on the southwestern most part of Pakistan. Most of China's population is in the East. Combine that with relatively poor infrastructure in Xinjiang and Tibet, and there is no way the CPEC route can be more efficient than the shipping route through the Malacca straits. The problem is Malacca is a chokehold that can be easily blocked by any major naval power, such as the US or UK. It does not help that India has a major naval base right next to Malaca via Andaman and Nicobar Islands, although relations between India and China have improved tremendously lately. China of course wants an alternative to the Malacca straits, but China is also realistic and knows it can never be able to sustain its economy through imports via Gwadar. Also, there is the simple fact that Ships carry more than rail.
India is not merely reacting to Pakistan, but is doing what is most efficient for its economy. For thousands of years India has been a major maritime economy on the IOR region, the INSTC allows it to connect its major ports to landlocked CA. Win win for everyone.
BTW, there is no reason why Pakistan cannot take advantage of the INSTC as well.