Pakistan’s geostrategic location has always attracted global giants to come and play within its territory. Be it preparing Mujahedeen in the wake of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan or tackling those Mujahedeen afterward, Pakistan’s soil has always been used in the hands of the beasts sitting thousands of miles away. Pakistan’s day-by-day deteriorating economic situation and its incapability to cope with domestic issues compel it to embrace foreign assistance and aid without thinking for a moment.
In his book, “Deadly Embrace” an American technocrat Bruce Riedel calls Pakistan’s relationship with the United States of America, “clientelistic”. In accordance with what is written in his book, America has been a client of Pakistan for decades and Pakistan has been providing services for the quest of dollars. This “clientelistic” relationship seems one of the reasons behind Pakistan’s compliance with every American command. Now that the strategic interests of America have been changed, it has placed a full stop to Pakistan’s services and obviously on the dollars as well.
Is China Pakistan’s new America?
China on the other hand is a revisionist power and the only state with a desire and capability of changing the world order. There are 149 countries around the world that are members of China’s Belt and Road initiative but Pakistan might be the most important one for the future of China’s growth. Pakistan was one of the first countries in the world to participate in BRI. Since then, China has poured tens of billions of dollars into economic investment in the country. Together the two nations have built the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor which is a flagship project of BRI. This economic corridor gives China direct access to the Arabian Sea and is significantly an easier pathway for securing oil and gas from China’s middle eastern partners. Sharing 596 kilometers of border with Xinjiang, (an autonomous territory in Northwest China) Pakistan seems vital for Chinese trade with East Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.
After the second world war, the United States transferred 13 Billion dollars which is equivalent to 173 Billion dollars in 2023 in economic recovery programs to Western European countries. The Marshall Plan was crucial to the future success of Europe and now China is following the same pathway making similar multi-billion dollar investments to increase trade in the region. Western media consistently tells us that China’s 62 billion dollar investment in CPEC is a predatory debt trap. But there’s always another side of the story we must examine. The CPEC project has had a significant impact on the economies of both China and Pakistan.
Out of all 1100 projects under BRI, China Pakistan Economic Corridor is considered as the most important one. Again Pakistan’s geostrategic location is the major reason behind that importance. China is the world’s largest consumer of energy and relies on huge amounts of oil and gas. Moreover, its trade agreements with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have increased gradually. Right now China is the largest oil customer of KSA. Buying over a quarter of its total oil exports. Qatar is another crucial state for China in terms of liquefied natural gas trade. China has signed a 27-year deal with Qatar last December. A simple question remains, how does the oil and gas travel from the Middle East into China’s borders? Before CPEC, there was only one route available. Oil tankers would have to depart the Middle East, travel around the southern tip of India through the strait of Malacca between Indonesia and Malaysia, and finally around the state of Vietnam before landing in a Chinese port. This route covers roughly 12000 kilometers which is more costly as compared to the new route under CPEC which only covers 2400 kilometers. This shrinking of the route shows Pakistan’s strategic importance to Beijing.
Evidence shows that Pakistan still has a clientelistic relationship but the new client is in its immediate neighborhood. The difference lies in the fact that the new client seems to be making long-term and more effective investments. The new Client has made some strategic moves offering Islamabad enormous and undeniable stakes. Meanwhile, Pakistan did not have much in its bucket which proved another reason to celebrate Chinese investment in the country. China is chasing its strategic interests in the region and seeking global hegemony by using smaller states meanwhile Pakistan’s political instability and lack of leadership have proved the country to be an amateur in the field of making sane diplomatic decisions. In spite of the sour impression of China in different parts of the world, most of the public in Pakistan still believes it to be anything but their go-to country and shows positive sentiments toward Beijing. Indeed Sino-Pakistan agreements are more of a positive sum deal. But the question, “Is Pakistan going to suffer the same way it suffered after submitting to American demands?”, still remains a question.
