We have been talking about the potential of shipping perishables (especially food stuffs) to the GCC from Pakistan for years on PDF.
This new infrastructure will benefit india, but can benefit Pakistan if it gets it crop yields up and rail infrastructure built.
In fact, if the rail network in Pakistan is extended to Gwadar, and the food storage faculties are built in Muscat, Oman, the distance is
only 223 nautical miles, that can be covered in 10 hours (give or take).
To far to cross in a tunnel but would make Gwadar relevant and economical viable.
Btw, if China wanted to build an undersea tunnel it would probably be between China and South Korea. Not a small feat at
250 miles. It would probably cost $150-200 Billion (as probably the Gwadar-Muscat tunnel would cost) . The trade would immediately help pay back the cost of the tunnel, and make use of all the BRI/OBOR infrastructure being built. This would also make it even more attractive for South Korea and Japan to built their own undersea rail tunnel they have been considering, in one way or another, for over 80 years.
Hey, you don’t have to sell me on the concept, I’m the biggest advocate for rail based freight. Go back over my posts on this forum for nearly 3-5 years I have been saying this is the way to go.
In fact for Africa, a trans-Sahel route would cut costs in the fastest growing region in Africa, countries all looking to break free of French neo-colonization. If the Chinese take the risk, it can pay off big and link up via an undersea tunnel between Djibouti and Yemen and the to this GCC railway. Then via the GCC railway to Oman and then Gwadar and via Gwadar all the way up to China, by passing the entire Indian Ocean basin, except for the Oman-Gwadar sea leg.