A highly strategic road connects China with Pakistan’s south-west coast port of Gwadar through it.

In the last 10 years, Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has focused on the Silk Road route, which has been used for trade and travel for centuries.

A vision of President Xi Jinping to rebuild the ancient route was one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects ever conceived, leading to the construction of transport links across South Asia, which helped Beijing win allies abroad and develop poorer countries.

China’s moves have long worried the West – concerned these investments would actually help build a chain of ports for its navy to use in the South China Sea, Arabian Sea, and on to Africa. This has been denied by China.

More than 145 countries, accounting for almost 75% of the world’s population and more than half of the world’s GDP, have signed up for the BRI so far.

In this remote and rugged part of Pakistan, $60 billion (£49 billion) was pledged for the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

To bypass lengthy sea routes around South and South East Asia, oil and gas pipelines from central Asia and the Middle East would be connected directly into western China.

China made a lot of sense by developing this region of Pakistan. By offering a gateway to Afghanistan and the rare earths buried there, it offered an opportunity to secure the porous border with its own restive Xinjiang region.