OPINION: China’s Pakistan Policy Is Economy-Focused

Communist China is secretly backing Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in his power struggle at home. Beijing seems to calculate that Sharif would be useful in accomplishing China's economic goals in Pakistan. New Delhi must remain cautious about the growing Beijing-Islamabad proximity.

The fourth round of the China-Pakistan Foreign Ministers' Strategic Dialogue held in Beijing early this month clearly indicates that relations between Beijing and Islamabad are all set to deepen further.

Observers say that in this dialogue, Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang agreed to maintain the momentum of their high-level exchanges. They agreed to push forward the development of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Pakistan reiterated its One-China policy and declared it would oppose any foreign attempt to 'contain' China. It agreed to closely cooperate with China in advancing the CPEC construction. It assured that it would crack down on terrorist organisations to ensure the safety of Chinese nationals, projects and institutions in Pakistan. Islamabad also expressed its support for China's Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative and Global Civilisation Initiative.

Communist China's Pakistan policy is mainly economy focused today. China is Pakistan's largest trade and investment partner. In the recent years, many Chinese enterprises have made a very strong presence in Pakistan. Pakistan has been one of the earliest participants of Chinese President Xi Jinping's pet project Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). China is rapidly developing the Gwadar port and Special Economic Zones in Pakistan.

In view of its economic interests in Pakistan, Beijing is secretly backing the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif government to consolidate itself in the current domestic power struggle in Islamabad. Beijing seems to calculate that the Sharif regime would be useful in accomplishing China's economic goals in Pakistan.

Beijing seems to have noted that the equation between Prime Minister Sharif and the Chinese top political leadership is fine. Last November, Prime Minister Sharif visited Beijing on the invitation of then Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang. Earlier in September, Prime Minister Sharif met Chinese President Xi in Uzbekistan. All such meetings went fine. In Beijing, Sharif declared that the second phase of the CPEC would usher in a 'new era'.

In the current domestic power struggle in Pakistan, China has apparently maintained silence. Beijing kept quiet when, in April last year, then Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was ousted from the Parliament through a no-confidence motion. It kept quiet also when, in November last year, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan encountered an assassination attempt on his life during a public rally. Beijing kept quiet the other day too when Pakistan's paramilitary Rangers dragged him from Islamabad High Court premises.

In fact, Beijing has not been pleased with Khan. Its assessment has been that Khan was not friendly to its economic projects when he was in power. It may be borne in mind that the recent arrest of former Prime Minister Khan took place nearly two weeks after Pakistani Army Chief General Asim Munir, the de facto ruler of the country today, visited China.

The observers say New Delhi must remain cautious about the growing proximity between Beijing and Islamabad. India has had a history of arguments with both China and Pakistan. New Delhi must ensure that any coalescence between Beijing and Islamabad is not detrimental to India's national interest.

Pertinently, relations between Pakistan and China have somewhat been unparalleled since long. The successive leaderships in Islamabad and Beijing have championed this special bond. They have often described this relationship as "all-weather" one.

There has been a constant increase in China's political support to Pakistan. During the 1950s, China's position on the Kashmir issue was relatively neutral. In the 1960s and 1970s, China stepped up its support for Pakistan's version of "self-determination" on India's Kashmir.

Presently, China favours resolving the Kashmir issue on the basis of the Pakistani version of the UN resolutions and its relevant bilateral agreements with India. After the abrogation of Article 370 by India in August 2019, China has vehemently opposed it. Beijing has also tried to trigger discussions on J&K in the United Nations Security Council at the behest of Pakistan. Also, Beijing has been pushing Islamabad from behind the scene to declare Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), an integral part of India's Jammu and Kashmir, as Pakistan's fifth province.

China has been one of the key defence partners of Pakistan. It has been the main force behind Pakistan nuclear-missile armament programme. Once China supplied to Pakistan ring magnets for high-speed centrifuges for its nuclear reactors.

Today, around 47 per cent of China's military exports go to Pakistan only. It includes small arms, fighter jets, ships and submarines, advanced equipment such as the JF-17 fighter jets, the K-8 training aircraft, Airborne Warning and Control Systems (AWACS), the Al-Khalid tanks and the Babur cruise missile.

(Jagdish N. Singh is a senior journalist based in New Delhi. He is also Senior Distinguished Fellow at the Gatestone Institute, New York)

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