Tuesday, March 8 2005 16:56 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Islamabad: Pakistan has claimed it has the ability and geographical positioning to oversee the shipping lanes carrying oil in the region and said it sees itself as a "key player" to "guarantee" access of international oil lanes and would oppose domination of Indian Ocean by "any country."

Without directly naming India and rapid transformation of the Indian Navy into a Blue Water Navy with acquisition of aircraft carriers like Admiral Grochkov, Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said Pakistan will oppose any domination of one country in the region.

"We will oppose domination of the Indian Ocean by any country. Pakistan views itself as an anchor of stability and peace in the region. To be anchor of peace and stability we must have credible defence. To have credible defence we must have our coast lanes and sea lanes protected," he said while addressing a briefing on wargames held at Pakistan Naval station in Karachi yesterday (March 7, 2005).

"The way Pakistan is positioned by nature, we have the ability and positioning to oversee the oil lanes of the world. This is a major task in peacetime and in any other situation. We are one of the key players in the region who can guarantee safe access to the oil lanes to the world." Aziz said the lessons learnt from the exercise held by the three forces would be greatly helpful in crystallising the strategic thought process and associated plans.

His speech came as Pakistan geared up to inaugurate the Chinese built strategic port Gwadar in the Arabian Sea coast bordering Iran. Gwadar port, a $ 300 million joint venture by Pakistan and China, is expected to be inaugurated next month by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao during his visit to Pakistan.