The history of an indispensable partnership
Today Pakistan and China enjoy a cordial relationship free of all doubts. Facts go back to their pre-diplomatic encounters. The purpose of this study to focus on these realities that helped in building a solid relationship between the two nations especially in the 1960s.
The creation of Pakistan on 14 August 1947 was totally in contrast with the liberation of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) that took place on 1 October 1949, exactly before 25 months and 14 days as an independent dominion out of the partition of British India. Both countries’ emergence wrote distinctive chapters in history and geostrategic significance on world’s map.
Pakistan altered the geography of South Asia and created a modem-liberal Islamic State to promote democracy, rights of people, and economic well-being. It was a struggle against imperialism and colonialism too against British imperialists and Hindu bourgeoisie who want to maintain their domination because of their numerical majority of Hindus once the British Raj would come to an end.
The inception of Pakistan was regarded as an ideological State to promote the cause of Islam and Muslims all over the world. Over one million Muslims were massacred in East Punjab and other districts in India on the eve of Partition. It was a bloody civil war. Rehabilitation of refugees from India into the newly independent State of Pakistan, financial crunch and external security threats posed by India, inter-alia, were its primary concerns and challenges. Therefore, preservation of its ideological orientations, ensuring territorial integrity, and achieving economic imperatives, and strengthening world peace counted as fundamental objectives of Pakistan’s foreign policy.
The PRC was created through a bloody revolution. Hundreds of thousands of people laid down their lives for seeking liberation and establish a Communist State. It was the most successful peasants’ revolution ever happened in Asia that changed the course of history. The cause of completion of its Communist revolution slightly remained unfulfilled because of the separation of Kuomintang nationalists under Chiang Kai-shek who declared the Republic of China (ROC), challenging Mao Zedong’s Communist declaration.
The split gave a set back to the cause of the people’s Communist revolution. This was PRC’s immediate challenge, which is well reflected in China’s foreign policy since its inception. A large number of Western countries opposed the creation of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and supported the Republic of China (ROC) and established ties with it. The fundamental objectives of Chinese foreign policy were peaceful co-existence and equality of development.
Pakistan accepted the geographical fact that China, Communist or otherwise, is a neighbour to which it must learn to live. It was like the dictum of the first post-war Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida that “red or white, China remains our next-door neighbour.” The same was Pakistan’s wisdom who entered into diplomatic ties with Communist China without any bilateral historical dispute.
Pakistan was not convinced that China was a threat to South Asia. Pakistan took advantage of its close geographical proximity with China. Pakistan was not seeking Chinese protection against India or any other foe. Rather the purpose of the Pakistan-China rapprochement was to build peace in Asia. Mutual understandings were so clear that Pakistan did not need to sign a non-aggression pact with China. It was Pakistan’s bilateralism with China with many of its positive contours. The mutual goodwill and equality laid the foundation stone of the Sino-Pakistani ties.
Pakistan well-read Chinese strategic mind set. China was the largest populated country with abundance of human and natural resources bordering Pakistan. It was a blessing in disguise rather than a security concern. China’s poverty was the result of its exploitation by the West and imperial Japan. China’s liberation was a matter of jubilation for Pakistan.
Similarly, China also well understood the importance of Pakistan. It was the largest Islamic State, bordering Sinkiang Autonomous Region of western China. The stability of Pakistan was thus linked up to the stability of Sinkiang. At the time of independence of Pakistan, some quarters floated the idea of an independent Sinkiang to create another sister Islamic country on the north-west border of Pakistan.
Pakistan did not pay heed to this idea and tried to remain consistent with idea of “One China”. These initial feelings of goodwill strengthened mutual and common understanding on the vital question of China’s integration. China was in search of security because of severe internal pressures and found that part of its security lies just on its border with Sinkiang in Pakistan. Therefore, Pakistan became an instrumental in ensuring security for China on its western border if all divergences were addressed.
Pakistan had an early desire to cultivate good relations with Central Asian States. Pakistan also regarded Sinkiang as a greater part of Central Asia and ancient Silk Road. This is evident in the poet-philosopher Allama Muhammad Iqbal’s ideas. After eastern and southern China, Sinkiang formed the greater part of Silk Road and its culture intermingled with the rest of Silk Road countries such as present-day Pakistan, Afghanistan, Central Asian Republics, Iran, and Turkey. The ethnic origin of Uygur people is Turkic. The Mughal dynasty in India and Urdu language also traced their origin with Turks. This commonality of ethnicity fostered people-to-people understanding between Pakistan and China.
As Central Asians were an integral part of the Soviet Union but the border was just 20 km from Pakistan Himalayan district of Chiral to Tajikistan and relations with the former Soviet Union could not warm up for one or other of reason. Pakistan found it ultimately a good opportunity to cultivate good relations with China as Uygur culture and people were closer to Pakistan culturally and religiously speaking.
At the same time, Pakistan adopted a policy of non-interference in the affairs of Sinkiang. Moreover, these principles encouraged Pakistan and China to foster cultural relations and Sinkiang had been the focal point to foster cultural understanding between Pakistan and China.
Pakistan and China were indispensible natural partners even before the established diplomatic relations. It was relationship that was supposed to be matured. The pre-diplomatic encounters such as historical and geo-strategic gave impetus to the foundation stone for laying a firm and solid relationship between the two countries in the 1950.
The writer is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad. He is an expert on Japan, China, and East Asian affairs.
