Pakistan asks Beijing to help build naval base: "Pakistan wants China to build a naval base at a deep-sea port in southwestern Baluchistan province, its defence minister said Sunday, while also inferring that Washington was a fair weather friend.
Ahmad Mukhtar, who accompanied Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani during a recent visit to China, said the request was made during the trip, when Pakistan thanked Beijing for constructing Gwader Port, on the Arabian Sea.
"However, we would be more grateful to the Chinese government if a naval base was being constructed at the site of Gwader for Pakistan," Mukhtar said in a statement.
The deep-sea port was around 75 percent financed by China, which Pakistan has been trying to draw in as a strategic partner, especially since the discovery and US killing on May 2 of Osama bin Laden north of Islamabad.
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