We are a nation given to exaggeration. True to form, where we should have had a sense of sobriety about the visit of Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and what it really entailed, we whipped up an orgy of celebration as if all we needed was his revered presence in our midst. To the extent that Jiabao was able to unite disparate Pakistani power players even, if for a few hours, it was fine but we could do with a deeper introspection of where we stand in the grand geo-political scheme. In other words, there is a world beyond raising Pak Cheen Dosti Zindabad slogans.
Inclined to rhetoric, the Pakistani media gullibly followed the done-to-death official narrative: that China is always at hand to bail us out of a tight corner. The fact, however, is that China has always placed and rightly so its strategic goals at the fulcrum of its diplomatic ties with all comers, Pakistan being no different. If truth be told, it is geography that drives this relationship, not some Himalayan and deeper-than-oceans terms of endearment as is repeatedly drilled from secondary school. But being the emotional fools that we are, little room is left for even lateral, let alone rational, thinking. And it is a little ironical given that China provides great lessons in successful diplomacy without so much as being noticed.
A case in point is how Jiabao managed the tightrope walk on his visit to India, and then, Pakistan. Despite New Delhis insistence, he refused to hook up Islamabad in the terror terrain the South Block wished and succeeded with France, Germany and Russia in the last few weeks. Predictably, this had us in thrall. The Chinese leader steered clear of the bait of course, with an eye on Pakistan, which is its indispensable ally any notion of a counterweight as our folks are ever so fond of believing would be yet another exaggeration to keep India engaged in more ways than one. New Delhi responded by eschewing support for One China policy, something that Pakistan unreservedly not only supports but even condemns its detractors for.
There is about Chinese diplomacy a certain folk wisdom. It is premised in patience and the virtue of quietly does it except when its raw nerve is deliberately touched where most states would raise Cain over even trivial matters in a mad race for brinkmanship. Its a simple, maybe clever, idea that helps China bond with all comers. In contrast, India and Pakistan suffer from an amateurish tendency to seek what essentially, are merely Brownie points at each others expense when both could do with a dose of realism and learn to live like decent neighbours since they dont really have much of a choice given their geography.
The lesson is unmistakably of far greater import for Pakistan since India is edging ever closer to China as a global power with plenty of room at the top of the table. If proof was ever needed, one only has to see how every P5 member and an industrial giant like Germany this year have secured multiple mega deals with India translating into more than $100bn. And save for, President Obama and Prime Minister Jiabao, all other power players obliged New Delhis request to indict Islamabad with terse statements surrounding export of terrorism across the border.
It doesnt require any genius to see why Obama and Jiabao stopped short of following suit. Both have huge stakes in Pakistan, the former to ensure America never again is at the receiving end of anything remotely resembling Nine-Eleven from the region and the latter to not only keep India in check but also milk Pakistan for her own market (bilateral trade is embarrassingly lopsided). As well as declining to play along New Delhis official line on Islamabads alleged involvement in terrorism, I have it on good authority that Prime Minister Wen Jiabao ignored Pakistani request to cite human rights violation in Indian-held Kashmir, speak up for Kashmiri self-rule or any sort of mediation to that end. Even a symbolic mention was refused.
Obviously, Jiabao was disinclined to upset New Delhi after concluding agreements to ratchet up bilateral trade to $100bn by 2015. With Islamabad, the two-way business will reach only $15bn, if at all, in the same span. In fact, Jiabao proceeded to advise Prime Minister Gilani to follow Chinas time-tested model of developing economic relations with neighbours by delaying decisions on political issues. A country could not hope for peace and prosperity while having problems with her neighbours, he reportedly said. China has boundaries with 15 countries and is friendly with all except the occasional hitch with India but which, it doesnt shy cavorting with for trade. Pakistan touches base with just four but only has good ties with China. If we still dont heed the Chinese adage prosper thy neighbour we are our own worst enemies.
The writer is a newspaper editor and can be reached at [email protected]
