Daily Times

Objective reality must be measured by its own size and not by the size of its shadow. Indeed, the People’s Republic of China has been an all-weather friend of Pakistan. Let us all honour and respect this friendship by being discerning and reasonable and not by forcing superfluous weights and strains on the friendship.

A broader and sharp decline in Pakistan-US relations could prompt the US endeavouring to impact China’s association with Pakistan. Beijing already has a wide-ranging and troublesome schema with the US, with areas of conflict running from the South China Sea to the Korean Peninsula. Having its activities in Pakistan come under the US scrutiny would also be unwelcome.

As the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) gains steam, it is significant not to conflate what Pakistan procures from China with what it acquires from the US. The two states give imperative help to Pakistan, yet in various ways.

As the continued advances on CPEC attest, it stays genuine that China is extending and likewise expanding its general financial and security support to Pakistan. Be that as it may, the questions of Beijing’s limits have dependably been a vital one. It is frequently twigged in military terms: regardless of whether in 1971 or 1999, China has shown little or no eagerness to swing in on Pakistan’s side amid emergencies of its own making. Its help has concentrated on furnishing Pakistan with the abilities that it needs, not going about as a military ally. These limits have also been evidenced in the political or diplomatic sphere, for example, China’s unmistakable ensign in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks that it would not ensure Pakistani activists at the UN, and financially, where China has been considerably quicker to see Pakistan go to the IMF than to give its own bailouts.

China stands ready to deepen its support to Pakistan further and help open new avenues. But can a strategic partnership with China be a substitute for Pakistan’s ties with the US?

More recently, the events like placing Pakistan in the terrorist financing watch list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an international money laundering watchdog, shows that China is not likely to offer its unmitigated support to Pakistan. There were reports that India consulted with China and persuaded the latter to haul out its support for Pakistan. Apparently, China’s choice ought to be taken as a reasonable impression of its disappointment with Pakistan as opposed to being seen as a political weight from some other state. It is also noteworthy that China has always preferred to deal with the latter’s policy on terrorism behind the closed doors but now has begun to use regional and international public forums to indicate its seriousness to the Pakistani authorities.

Moreover, in September last year, amid BRICS summit, which was hosted by China, a number of militant groups allegedly based in Pakistan were declared a regional security threat. The message coming out of Beijing as of now is quite clear that if Pakistan continues to stick its policy of ‘inaction’, it ought to ‘do more’ and will face not only significant isolation but also very strong opposition from China. On the off chance that Islamabad takes after an approach that isn’t in accordance with Beijing’s economic or security interests, it ought not to expect China’s exhaustive support at any forum.

China stands ready to deepen its support to Pakistan further and help open new avenues. But can a strategic partnership with China be a substitute for Pakistan’s ties with the US?

To answer this question, one needs to copiously comprehend that the US troops are stationed in Pakistan’s neighbourhood, Afghanistan. US military bases are spread across the region, and Trump is also willing to lend more support to Pakistan’s arch-rival India. Given these circumstances, Pakistan’s foreign office ought to be mindful of its initiatives and must also bear in mind that though China is helping Pakistan in many areas yet it cannot replace the US.

In a nutshell, the leverage that Pakistan used to exercise hitherto over both China and the US regarding ‘jihadists’ in the region has now become archaic. ‘Beijing can now force its strict conditions on Pakistan in terms of economic and security matters’.

The writer is currently working as Research Associate at Strategic Vision Institute and can be reached at ubaid@thesvi.org

Published in Daily Times, March 26^th 2018.