Writing on the wall
The way CPEC was being handled on the Pakistani side it was only a matter of time before the Chinese became nervous. And, going by reports surrounding President Xi’s visit to Tehran, there may already be a certain amount of anxiety in Beijing. Understanding the sensitivity and complexity of the Route’s passage through Pakistan, especially at Gwadar, the Iranians have apparently proposed Chabahar as an alternative. It’s only 36km from Gwadar, after all, and there’s ‘complete national harmony and security’, which Pakistan fails to provide. Plus, a pipeline linking Iran and China is also on the table.
PML-N apologists’ usual rebuttal – concerns are exaggerated, China is time-tested, etc –are partly true, but still miss the bigger picture. Chabahar is fine as a substitute port, but the road through Pakistan is central to China’s greater New Silk Route project; it is one component, but an essential one. Still, though, while concerns about China ‘bypassing Pakistan’ might be overblown, their fears about our political paralysis are not. The inter-provincial row about route and rights will have to be settled immediately. And it doesn’t help that PML-N is handling CPEC in its usual style as well. All decisions are the domain of the Sharif brothers’ close kitchen cabinet, with important federal ministers also left out of the loop.
Chinese friendship is, indeed, time-tested. But for the warmth to endure there must, at least, be adequate reciprocity. If lack of political transparency, inter-provincial disputes, etc, continue to hold CPEC back, there is only so long before a certain amount of frost sets in. Pakistan must also consider wider international dynamics. China – allied strongly to Russia – played a crucial role in ending Iran’s isolation recently. Sino-Iranian trade is set to rise to $600b in ten years. They represent a bloc that is overcoming political bottlenecks for the sake of breakneck economic/financial progress. If we are a regressive, bickering link in a long chain, we will eventually be left out. The sooner PML-N wakes up to this reality the better for Pakistan, China and the region.
Wheeling and Dealing cloaked and concealed saz-baz has been the trademark of Sharif Bros. They are quite capable of wrecking and ruining the whole CEPEC project
Nawaz Sharif couldn’t care a less for the country other than Punjab. He wants to keep Modi happy by tacitly agreeing to allow Jindel passage through Wahga and get what he wants in return. It is pure business. Before leaving Kabul Modi in a speech there said “Pakistan could provide the bridge between India and Afghanistan” or words to that effect.
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