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Gwadar is promoted as a gateway for growth, but its corporate structures and free-zone incentives can obscure who truly controls companies operating there. While Pakistan has strengthened beneficial-ownership rules, gaps remain, especially involving sensitive chemical imports. Increasing transparency, not slowing trade, is key to keeping Gwadar both open and secure.

In the weeks before every FATF review, Pakistan stages a flurry of drug busts and counter-terror operations—proof of compliance on paper, performance in practice. Beneath the headlines lies a cycle of optics over outcomes, where enforcement serves diplomacy, not justice. The “compliance curtain” hides a system perfected in illusion.