Pakistan's New Infrastructure Investments and Trade Routes

Pakistan has recently launched 5G wireless service in multiple cities and closed financing on the 306 kilometer 6-lane Sukkur-Hyderabad M6 motorway. In addition, Pakistan is seeing significant increase in the utilization of its Gwadar and Karachi ports after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz due to the US-Iran war. This will help open the trade routes from Pakistan to Central Asia via Iran, bypassing unstable Afghanistan. It has the potential to eventually make Pakistan a major transshipment hub for the region extending to the land-locked Central Asian Republics. Another major news is the Asian Development Bank financing of cross-border connectivity of the power grid and digital networks. These developments are expected to substantially enhance economic activity in the country, in spite of the short-term negative impact of the energy crisis, particularly in oil and gas imports. 

5G Launch:

Wireless carriers Jazz and Zong have launched 5G services across Pakistan in March 2026.  This will further expand and enhance Pakistan's digital public infrastructure. Jazz launched its 5G service across major cities, including in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta, Multan, and Faisalabad. Meanwhile, Jazz's competitor Zong is targeting over 16 cities with 5G speeds exceeding 1.4Gbps. 

During the March auction, a total of 480 MHz of spectrum was sold across multiple bands for over $500 million, with Pakistan's main telcos, Jazz, Ufone, and Zong, snapping up the assets. Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) put a total of 597 MHz of spectrum on the table, with just over 100 MHz of this going unsold.

M6 Motorway:

Pakistan has signed an agreement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for $235 million in financing for two sections (120 miles) of the M6 motorway in Sindh province. The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and the OPEC Fund have already agreed to finance three other sections of this motorway. 

The M-6 motorway is the only missing segment in the north-south motorway route linking Karachi to Peshawar. The 306-kilometer-long, six-lane motorway will have 15 interchanges and 10 service areas.

Cross-Border Grid Connectivity:

Pakistan is joining the Pan-Asia Power Grid Initiative sponsored and financed by the Asian Development Bank which will provide $50 billion for power and $20 billion for digital infrastructure. The project will link grids, boost power trading, improve broadband and develop AI-ready communities across Asia, the Pacific. 

Iran Trade Routes:

Pakistan has opened six land transit routes for goods destined for Iran, creating a road corridor through its territory as thousands of containers remain stranded at Karachi port because of the United States blockade of Iranian ports and ships trying to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.

This development signals a major shift away from the Gulf trade infrastructure Iran had long relied upon, particularly through Jebel Ali Port in the United Arab Emirates. This represents an opportunity for Pakistan to create new trade routes to Central Asian Republics bypassing Afghanistan, eventually making Pakistani ports a major transshipment hub for the entire region. 

Pakistan's newest Gwadar Port has already seen a major surge in activity, handling around 11,000 containers in April 2026 alone, surpassing its entire 2025 volume. The increase comes as shipping companies adjust routes due to disruptions near the Strait of Hormuz, pushing traffic toward safer alternatives.

Space Program:

Pakistan's space agency SUPARCO has achieved a major milestone by launching five indigenous satellites over the last 16 months (early 2025 – April 2026), marking a shift toward rapid space technology expansion. The fleet, aimed at Earth observation and agriculture, includes EO-1, EO-2, AI-powered EO-3, and Pakistan's first hyperspectral satellite, HS-1. 

HS-1 is Pakistan's first hyper-spectral  satellite which is equipped with advanced hyperspectral imaging sensors capable of capturing data across hundreds of narrow spectral bands.  The satellite lifted off from China’s Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on a Kinetica-1 rocket. It is expected to boost Pakistan's national capacities in areas such as precision agriculture, environmental monitoring, urban planning, and disaster management. Its high-resolution data will support improved resource management and strengthen Pakistan’s resilience to climate-related challenges. 

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Jihadis Growing in Tenth Year of Afghan War

Today marks the 9th anniversary of the US war in Afghanistan, making it the longest war in US history.

What began as a US-Saudi-Pakistani sponsored anti-Soviet jihad in Afghanistan in the 1980s, and led to the terrorist attacks on Sept 11, 2001, is now threatening to engulf Africa, Central Asia, Middle East and South Asia in its growing flames. And its effects are continuing to be strongly felt in America and Europe.

The victorious veterans of the 1980s Afghan resistance have successfully indoctrinated and trained several generations of battle-hardened global jihadis to take on the United States and various pro-Western governments in Islamic nations in all parts of the world. This trend is accelerating as the US steps up its attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan, according a recent report in Newsweek magazine. Here is an excerpt from its report:

"The Central Asians retreated to Afghanistan and Pakistan in the late 1990s after failing to topple their home governments. Now they seem ready to try again, using guerrilla tactics and know-how they’ve picked up from the Taliban about improvised explosive devices. Small groups of Tajik and Uzbek militants began moving into Tajikistan in late winter 2009, says a Taliban subcommander in the northern Afghan province of Kunduz. In Kunduz they joined up with fighters from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), a Qaeda-linked group active there and in Tajikistan. “Once these first groups made it back safely [to Tajikistan], they signaled to militants here in Kunduz and even in Pakistan’s tribal areas that the journey was possible,” the subcommander, who didn’t want to be named for security reasons, tells Newsweek."



As the Central Asian fighters return to their home countries, there have also been similar reports of Arab jihadis moving into the Arabian peninsula, particularly Yemen. The American-born radical cleric Anwar Al-Awlaki is reportedly in Yemen, encouraging young Muslims to participate in global jihad against the West. Al-Awlaki is said to be linked to US Army Major Nidal Hasan, accused of murdering colleagues in shootings at Fort Hood.

In the past two years Al Qaida has established a local franchise in Yemen, Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which has claimed responsibility for audacious attacks – including the failed Christmas Day 2009 airplane bombing attempt in Detroit, Michigan, and an attempt to kill British Ambassador in Yemen earlier in 2010.

Beyond the Arabian peninsula, there are concerns about the rising Al Qaeda influence in the Horn of Africa. The head of Somalia's weakened transitional government, Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, has recently accused Islamist insurgents of seeking to turn the war-stricken country into a base for Al Qaeda to bring terror to the Horn of Africa.

Even as the foreign fighters leave the Afghan battle field to return for jihad in their home countries, the loss of troop strength for the Taliban is more than offset by a rush of young Afghans joining up, according to the Newsweek story. An Afghan government official in Kunduz’s Emam Saheb district told Newsweek that the insurgents now have near-total control of the province’s northern frontier.

Recognizing the expanding threat of global Jihad, the US Central Command has responded by setting up "Joint Unconventional Warfare Task Force" which is charged with planning and conducting secret military operations in geographies under US CentCom. The main advantage of clandestine activity by special ops personnel is that it does not require the president’s approval or regular reports to Congress. This makes it easier to hide the operations from the public and provides plausible deniability to the President even if he gave the orders for operations. According to a New York Times report, “Special operations troops have already been sent into a number of countries to carry out reconnaissance missions, including operations to gather intelligence about airstrips and bridges.”

Unfortunately emphasis on armed warfare, open or secret, is no substitute for the use of soft power aimed at winning the hearts and minds of the populations at large. Rather than help to achieve peace and stability, the secret wars fuel further resentment, and often become counterproductive in defeating the extremists.

It is important for the United States to go beyond the rhetoric about winning the battle for the hearts and minds of Muslims. It is now time to step up its public diplomacy along with necessary foreign policy changes and a sincere charm offensive to try and win the hearts and minds of the common people in the Islamic world. Only then can the Islamic militants be isolated, marginalized, and eventually defeated.

Related Links:

Haq's Musings

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Facts and Myths about Afghanistan and Pakistan

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Obama's New Regional Strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan

US Escalating Covert War in Pakistan?

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Growing Insurgency in Swat

Afghan War and Collapse of the Soviet Union

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