OPINION: Worries Increasing In China

India's gaining popularity after holding-20 successfully in Kashmir on May 22 to 24, 2023, not only has increased worry for Pakistan but also irked China as well. In this historical event, 59 international delegates participated. Despite Pakistan's request to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries not to attend the meet, three Islamic countries -- Indonesia, UAE and Bangladesh -- and their delegates were present at the event held in the capital city of Srinagar.

China has a long-standing and strong relationship with Pakistan, also an important partner in its flagship Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The multi-billion dollar mega projects under CPEC are called the "Destiny Changer" in the region. To restrain the growing expansion of India, the partnership between China and Pakistan has further intensified in the last few years. The Centre for Global & Strategic Studies (CGSS), Islamabad, has been pressed into service to conduct bilateral or trilateral international conferences to showcase China's soft image to focus on the challenges faced by the two countries, with special emphasis on CPEC and Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

However, the ground reality is that Pakistan has been slow to complete infrastructure projects and China has been slow to fund new ones. The tie-up between China and Pakistan is under compulsion to keep a check on India, despite the infrastructure slowdown due to CPEC projects. Unfortunately, Pakistan's formidable forces are pursuing the agenda of balkanization of the country in the name of religion (TTP), sub-nationalism or political gains.

Notably, China's worry is also experiencing security risks in Pakistan, as the graph on terrorism is increasing. China is interested in a stable government in Islamabad. But China has a rapport with Sharif's family; the current Prime Minister's brother Nawaz Sharif also served as Prime Minister when CPEC was formally launched. But the Imran Khan government put riders and called for a review of past CPEC agreements in the name of anti-corruption. It is beyond any doubt that Pakistan's powerful military has the final word on policy decisions regarding key partners, particularly China.

In the geopolitical scenario, the alliance between China and Pakistan is getting further strengthened because of the growing US-India security ties. On the other hand, US-China competition has put a spanner on cooperation between Pakistan and the United States, thus pushing Islamabad's reliance on Beijing for economic and military assistance.

It has been observed by political scientists that China remained silent on Imran Khan's fiascos. In fact, two weeks before the arrest of Imran Khan, Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff Syed Asim Munir was in Beijing meeting China's top diplomats besides the military brass. The Army Chief made sure during his meeting with Politburo member and top diplomat Wang Yi, Director of Chinese Communist Party's Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, on April 27, to get support for Pakistan's national security and stability.

Pakistan's Army has a history of meddling in political affairs. Diplomatically, if the meeting of the Pak Army Chief with China's high-ranking officials is viewed, China's strategic community has trust in the Pak Army, rather than civilian elected governments. China, protecting its personnel in Pakistan is of the highest priority, who have been engaged in projects in terror zones. The protection can only be granted by the Pak Army. China broadly agrees with Pakistan that if it rolls up the 'jihadi' network, India will not be incentivized to negotiate over Kashmir.

Meanwhile, China has been strategically planning to boost naval ties with Pakistan to increase its presence in the Indian Ocean and expand its access to key ports at Gwadar (in Pakistan). Moreover, the naval cooperation will also help China to contain India more effectively. Defence experts say that with help of modernizing weapons sales and training by China to Pakistan is likely to irk India. The assessment came as Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu told the Pakistani Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Muhammad Amjad Khan Niazi that their navies should "expand into new fields of cooperation" to boost their capacity to safeguard regional security.

Lately, China and India have been contesting for influence in the Indian Ocean, as they remain locked in a long-running border dispute in the Himalayas. China has long-standing disputes with India on multiple points along their as-yet undemarcated 3,488-km border. Border clashes turned deadly in 2020 and the two sides are still managing the issue with a series of military talks.

Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan has categorically said that the continued deployment of China's PLA in strength along India's northern borders is a "challenge" but the armed forces are committed to maintaining the legitimacy of the country's claims on the LAC. "We are living in a time when the global security situation is not at its best and the international geopolitical order is in a state of flux. The war in Europe, the continued deployment of PLA in strength along our northern borders and political and economic turmoil in our immediate neighborhood all present a different form of challenge to the Indian military," Chauhan said.

(R C Ganjoo is a senior journalist and columnist having more than 30 years experience of covering issues concerning national security, particularly Kashmir. He has worked with several prominent media groups and his articles have been published in many national and international publications.)

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of OneIndia and OneIndia does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.