Sino-Pak ties may remain intact

Will Imran Khan’s ignominious ouster as Pakistan’s Prime Minister and his replacement by the highly controversial Opposition choice Shehbaz Sharif affect ties between Islamabad and Beijing? Observers say Sino-Pak ties are likely to remain intact.

Apparently, the new government in Pakistan may look headed toward causing strains in relations between Islamabad and Beijing. Recently, the Sharif government has decided to scrap the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Authority (CPECA). Given China’s well-known interest in this corridor, Beijing may not like it. But relations between Islamabad and Beijing have been too deep to remain strained for long.

Islamabad and Beijing are often referred to as “all-weather friends” and “iron brothers.” Pakistan is an Islamic republic. In coalescence with the then imperialists, just a bunch of Muslim separatist elements of undivided British India founded the state of Pakistan on the ground of religion in 1947. Pakistan has had no ideological harmony with communist China which has little respect for Islamic values. Islamabad has never allowed this to come in the way of its strong developing ties with China.

Relations between Pakistan and China have been very warm since they established diplomatic ties way back in 1951. After the People’s Republic of China, under the leadership of Mao Zedong, appeared on the international scene in 1949, Pakistan was one of the first countries to recognize it. Islamabad remained a steadfast ally of Beijing during the latter’s period of international isolation in the 1960s and early 1970s.

In the sixties, Islamabad transferred a part of Pakistan -occupied Kashmir to China. On its part, China has provided Pakistan with the major military, technical, and economic assistance, including the transfer of sensitive nuclear technology and equipment.

Today China is Pakistan’s biggest trade partner. It is Pakistan’s main source of imports and the second-largest export destination. Since 2007 China and Pakistan have had a Free Trade Agreement. There is a near consensus across the whole politico-military-strategic spectrum in Islamabad to maintain and advance Pakistan’s special ties with China.

In February this year, former Prime Minister Khan happened to be a special guest at the Beijing Winter Olympics. In a statement, he described good relations with Beijing as the “cornerstone” of Pakistan’s foreign policy. Under its new Prime Minister, Islamabad is highly unlikely to deviate from this consensus on advancing Islamabad- Beijing ties.

Not much should be read into the new Pakistan government’s decision to scrap the CPECA. The Pakistan Army has so far dominated this authority. The Sharif government may be intending just to put it into civilian control.

Pakistan sees the multi-billion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor as a ticket to rid itself of its current instability and chronic economic weakness. The importance Pakistan attaches to the CPEC projects is clear also from a recent meeting between Deputy Head of the Chinese Embassy Pang Chunxue and Chairman Senate Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani in Islamabad. Speaking on occasion, Sanjrani reportedly said that the CPEC would prove to be a game-changer.

(The author is a New Delhi-based journalist)