ADB describes Pakistan as providing some of the closest sea access to Afghanistan, Central Asia and western China.
Source
ADB — https://www.adb.org/what-we-do/funds/pakistan-economic-corridors-programme. Verified in source set / retroactive normalization pending.
What it proves
Pakistan possesses genuine geoeconomic location advantages.
How to deploy: Use ADB describes Pakistan as providing some of the closest sea access to Afghanistan, Central Asia and western China. (ADB describes Pakistan as providing some of the closest sea access to Afghanistan, Central Asia and western China., None) to support the claim that Pakistan possesses genuine geoeconomic location advantages.
What it does not prove: Proximity is geographic potential, not realised trade: map distance prices in nothing about corridor security, border closures, transit agreements or port turnaround, and the hinterland markets involved — Afghanistan and Central Asia — are small economies, so shortest access is not the same as large volumes. This is ADB's characterisation of location, not a measurement of transit tonnage or transit revenue earned.
Memory hook: Shortest ocean door → for Kabul, Central Asia and western China alike
Rebuts the claim: 'Pakistan is peripheral to global trade routes and can only compete on cheap labour' — it holds the closest sea access for three landlocked hinterlands, an asset that is unearned but perishable if corridors stay insecure.