In June 2019, the US Department of Defence (DoD) released its latest report on American strategy in the Indo-Pacific for the coming years. As evident from the document, New Delhi will play a role as a main US ally in South Asia. At the same time, despite all recent diplomatic cosiness, Islamabad was not mentioned at all.
Does this mean thatthe US is deploying ‘double standard’ as a policy,whereby it is ignoring the role of Pakistan in counterterrorism, peace and stability in the region? Does this mean that all recent diplomatic initiatives of the Washington on Pakistan are just meant to get additional benefits for Donald Trump’s election campaign 2020? Does this also explain the silence of the US silence over the Indian repression in Kashmir? Isn’t it dichotomic that White House and Pentagon are developing political and military ties with New Delhi but demanding from Islamabad the additional efforts in fight against Daesh and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan?
The sameDoD report declares the Indo-Pacific as the single most significant region for America’s future. The solitary concern for Washington and New Delhi is the growing assertiveness of Beijing in the Indo-Pacific.The same report, while acknowledging China’s economic, political and military rise as one of the defining elements of the present century, mentions that the Indo-Pacific is ever more confronted with a more confident and a firmer China, the one that is willing to accept friction in the quest for expansion of political, economic and security interests.
The DoD further opines that the region views China’s systematic mistreatment of Uighurs, Kazakhs and other Muslims in Xinjiang-including pervasive discrimination, mass detention, and disappearances-with deep concern.However, when it comes to Indian brutalities in Kashmir and the alarming state of insecurity for minorities in India, the US is content with only customary statements.
It is likely that Trump still requires Islamabad’s help in brokering the deal between the US and Taliban, paving way for sustainable peace in Afghanistan
Meanwhile, US Defence Secretary Mark Esper, started his second Indo-Pacific tour last week,in order to counter Chinese power. Pentagon, in a statement, said that Esper would discuss Beijing’s South China Sea claims on visit to South Korea, Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam. It can rightly be said that Indo-Pacific region is now Pentagon’s priority theatre. In contrast, tensions in the region appear to have cooled as China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations try to agree on a code of conduct for the South China Sea.
The centre of this geostrategic and geo-economic tension lies within the prism ofthe Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China’s flagship intercontinental connectivity venture. The BRI aims at reshaping the global economics machinery grounded in the idea of ‘cooperation, rather than competition’. It is an ambitious effort to improve regional cooperation and connectivity on a transcontinental scale.The US and the west are suspicious of the time when the BRI could transform from merely an economic venture into a security one, whereas theChina Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is the cornerstone of the entire BRI.
CPEC is where Washington seems to be angry with Islamabad, as it greatly augments the scope and impact of the BRI. The US apparently views CPEC as Pakistan enabling China to become a dominant power, eventually challenging the US as a sole superpower. It seems that the US has learnt very little from its past. It is employing the same strategy of “either with us or against us”, whereas the world is moving towards multipolarity and cooperation. This is the only reason Islamabad has not been mentioned even once in the report, explicitly signalling Islamabad to choose one between the US and China.
The new US national defence strategy talks of Washington countering Beijing’s economic initiatives in South Asia, which means Islamabad, as a major ally of China in the region, would also be the target, and both could face new sanctions and political pressure from the west. In the same context, more capabilities and power of Indian armed forces means rising of threats for Pakistan’s national security. Pakistan should describe its position clearly, whereas the US shouldn’t instigate an arms race in the region and the world. It is likely that Trump still requires Islamabad’s help in brokering the deal between the US and Taliban, paving way for sustainable peace in Afghanistan. Trump would be using this Afghan peace card for his re-election.
However, Islamabad keeping its interest of regional peace should engage with regional and local stakeholders for peace in Afghanistan as well, rather than merely taking it as a peace assignment from the US.
The US should refrain from starting another cold war in the region. One wonders if the Oval Office ever heard of a quote by Russian philosopher, Peter Kropotkin: “Competition is the law of jungle, but cooperation is the law of civilisation.” The White House, on a lighter note, may perhapsalso declare these lines as propaganda material.
The writer is Research Fellow and Programme Officer at the Centre for Research and Security Studies, Islamabad