Prologue
China and Pakistan friendship is higher than the Himalayas, sweeter than the honey, and deeper than the pacific ocean. The bilateral relations between these two countries can be traced back to the inception and independence of Pakistan. China and Pakistan have been together through thick and thin. It has been China that has supported Pakistan in its wars of 1965, 1971, and 1999 against India, the traditional rival. China has been providing socio-economic and political backing to Pakistan throughout history. Recently, an investment of $63 billion was carried out by China in Pakistan related to infrastructure, energy, airport, railway track, and telecommunication. It is one of the highest investments done by China in the outer world. China and Pakistan are established regional powers and have strong security co-operation.
Belt & Road Initiative and China Pakistan Economic Corridor
China, in 2013, launched its Belt and Road Initiative. The BRI was China’s plan to go global and included the land-based Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. The plan to connect China with Europe through South East Asia, South Asia, West Asia, and Central Asia. The China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is the lynchpin to the BRI. The land-based Silk Road Economic Belt includes six economic corridors of which the CPEC is of prime importance. The CPEC connects China’s Xinjiang province with Pakistan’s Gwadar port through central, eastern, and western routes.
Xinjiang is an autonomous region of China with a Muslim population in the majority there. Due to abject poverty there, the spring uprising is quite a possibility. China wants socio-economic development in the region and wants to thwart poverty. This is why China connected the province with the Arabian sea through Pakistan’s Gwadar port. China will have shorter access to oil resources in the Gulf region. Also, China can export its consumer staples and other value-added goods to West Asia and the Gulf region through Gwadar. Pakistan wants Gwadar to be the biggest port in the world. Gwadar is the deepest seaport in the world and is a hot water body that makes it an all-season sport. Hence, both have common interests. This is why CPEC is the most important corridor of the BRI.
Security co-operation between Pakistan and China
China and Pakistan have common security interests. Both nations want to control and curb the excesses of terrorism. Terrorism is an international menace now. It exists in the autonomous province of Xinjiang in China. Terrorism is also of great concern to Pakistan. Therefore, both nations have many a time conducted counterterrorism exercises in the region. Andrew Small in his book ‘The axis of Pakistan-China-Iran” has termed China and Pakistan as important security partners with many common security concerns. The Strait of Hormuz is an important international strategic choke point. It is a great point of consideration in China’s String of Pearls in which Gwadar is going to be an important military facility.
China and Pakistan as regional powers
China and Pakistan have established powers in the Asian regions. China has the largest army in the world. Whereas, Pakistan’s army is one of the strongest in the world. Both the armies are on one page and have very much common interests. Many military exercises have been conducted by these armies together. China and Pakistan have a common enemy with the name of India and both these nations have on and off sandwiched India many times.
Epilogue
On a crux, China and Pakistan are brotherly nations. China has invested $63 billion in CPEC which is an important corridor of BRI. CPEC will boost China’s exports and provide cheaper access to petroleum resources of the Gulf region. The security co-operation between China and Pakistan is also at its pinnacle. Therefore both China and Pakistan are now an established regional power.
References
http://mofa.gov.pk/pakistan-and-china-diplomatic-relations/
http://pk.chineseembassy.org/eng/zbgx/
https://merics.org/en/analysis/bri-pakistan-chinas-flagship-economic-corridor
https://www.globalvillagespace.com/cpec-the-greater-belt-and-road-initiative-bri/
To keep up to date with the latest commercial news, click on commercial to get your daily dose.
Donate & Support