Taking their relationship to new heights, Pakistan and China have agreed through eight different pacts to work together to ameliorate Pakistan’s economic woes. China’s willingness to offer trade and investment opportunities to Pakistan is a sign that both the countries’ faith in each other is solid. Starved of foreign investment as Pakistan is, China’s assistance in the economic and financial sectors could act to persuade other countries to follow suit. It is commendable that in spite of China’s grievances over the Xinjiang uprising getting oxygen from FATA, it has left the matter to be solved through negotiations with Pakistan. What might seem on the surface an ostensibly easy going partnership, actually camouflages the tremendous pressure on the Pakistan government to improve its global image of a terrorist-exporting country to one which is at peace with itself, the region, and the world. The most significant pact of linking the Karakoram Highway (KKH) with Gwadar port will open up an energy and trade corridor that would allow a third of the world’s traded oil to be moved overland through the KKH. According to experts, this route would cut the cost of moving goods and services to half for the Asian countries in the region. Pakistan-China trade potential that is estimated to reach $ 15 billion in two to three years will move many levels up once the agreements signed are realised in the stipulated time. The Karachi-Lahore motorway and the Nandipur project are also to be thrown into the lap of Chinese companies. These projects had been lying dormant due to the previous government’s failed energy policies. Nandipur was initially a project being implemented by a Chinese company. Consistent bureaucratic delays persuaded the frustrated Chinese to leave the project prematurely. In its traditional show of magnanimity and generosity, China has tacitly agreed to overlook our faults. This is nothing short of an appreciable gesture that we could reciprocate by eliminating the flaws in our structure that allow corruption all too easily, resulting in slower development. In the pursuit of getting its act together, Pakistan has to simultaneously confront three issues on a war footing: the menace of terrorism that has crippled the entire country, the insurgency in Balochistan, and the terrorists’ safe haven in FATA. Addressing these three structural issues is critical if the best laid economic plans are to bear fruit. Terrorism can be taken care of if its breeding ground in FATA is wiped clean of the menace. Closing in on the terrorists by clipping their ability to live a secure life will deprive them of financial, political and economic cover that they get from affiliated terrorist organisations. As far as Balochistan is concerned, peace is indispensible if Gwadar is to become a success story. The insurgents should be persuaded to come to the negotiating table. Their grievances should first be heard sincerely and then addressed in a fair manner. The Baloch insurgents have been warning of stern reaction if any movement on the Gwadar project is seen across their areas. This is an indicator of just how much distance still exists between the government and the insurgents. This distance can only be reduced once the ‘kill and dump’ policy is dumped for good. Peace is the basic ingredient of economic prosperity. We have to prove to foreign investors that we can live in peace within and without. All eyes are set on Pakistan’s behaviour with its neighbouring countries, especially India and Afghanistan. The economic corridor that Pakistan and China are planning to construct needs close coordination among all the Asian countries within this region. It could trigger a boom that will nourish the generations to come but only if we allow peace to prevail without indulging in any ‘national security’ adventurism. *