The original Great Game was a power struggle between the former Soviet Union and Britain as to who would control the warmer waters of the Indian Ocean for trade and other purposes. It is speculated that the Soviet Union’s attack on Afghanistan in the 1970s was an extension of this phenomenon.
So what is the New Great Game? The New Great Game is a power struggle between the United States, China and Russia to influence the Central Asian countries – Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan – in what authors and researchers term “petroleum politics”. When these countries gained independence and joined the ECO, they wanted a special relationship with Pakistan because they saw Pakistan as a huge backyard with great economic and social opportunities.
Pakistan helped these countries join the OIC but unfortunately Pakistan never left the buffer zone stage due to certain mistakes that it made. Pakistan ended up supporting the hardcore Islamists emerging from Afghanistan and the Central Asian republics wanted to avoid any religious side-taking. Two, Pakistan used the ECO to further its agenda regarding the Kashmir issue. The Central Asian countries distanced themselves because ECO was an economic forum and the bilateral relations between India and Pakistan did not have place there.
Pakistan did try and help but now has no influence over this region. The country has remained stuck because of Afghanistan and as a result gained hostility of the Central Asian nations because of the spill over effect from Afghanistan which these countries are continuously trying to avoid.
NIHAN RAFIQUE
Lahore
