Concerns about Afghanistan, terrorism bringing Pak, China, Russia closer

• Amb Khalid Khattak believes mutual concerns about Afghanistan is bringing Pakistan, Russia closer

By Salman Ashraf

Besides the global power play, instability in Afghanistan and the associated threat of terrorism are the major factors driving the emerging realignment in the region involving Pakistan, China and Russia, former diplomats and academics believe.

They were speaking at a conference ‘Pakistan’s Relations with China and Russia: Opportunities and Prospects,’ jointly hosted in Islamabad by the Centre for International Strategic Studies (CISS) and German institute Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS), here on Friday.

Speakers at the conference besides exploring the contours of the relations of Pakistan with China and Russia also looked at the future trajectories and possibilities.

CISS Executive Director Amb Sarwar Naqvi, while presenting the conclusions of the conference, noted that “cross-cutting relationships were coming up in the region without entirely impacting the old relations.” He cited examples of Pak-China relationship remaining strong but at the same time Beijing and Delhi working to improve their ties; similarly, Russia is maintaining its traditional relations with India, but is also developing a friendship with Pakistan. The US, meanwhile, despite its preference for a strategic partnership with India is not ditching Pakistan either, he observed.

Amb Naqvi recalled that, simultaneously, three major efforts at containment are also underway with India containing Pakistan, the US containing China, and the US, along with Western allies, containing Russia.

Quaid-e-Azam University’s School of Politics and International Relations Associate Professor Dr Zafar Nawaz Jaspal urged Pakistan government to pursue realistic policies to protect vital interests of the country.

“We have to move carefully. There is no brotherhood in international relations, everyone moves according to the national interest. Instead of entirely relying on China and Russia, it would be better to have proactive and innovative strategies,” he said, cautioning that while Pakistan’s relations with both Beijing and Moscow were on positive trajectories, there could be challenges ahead as well.

Dr Jaspal said Russia, China and Pakistan all have concerns about the situation in Afghanistan and are also worried about the rise of Islamic State (IS aka as ISIS, ISIL and Daesh). This, he believed, could bring the three countries further closer.

It should be recalled that Russia, China and Pakistan—out of their concern for the aggravating situation in Afghanistan and growing footprint of IS—started a trilateral process, which has now expanded to include 12 regional countries. A meeting of these 12 countries hosted by Moscow earlier this month ended with a call for Taliban to end violence and join the peace process, which Russia offered to sponsor.

Pakistan’s former envoy to Russia Amb Khalid Khattak recapped the events that led to the improvement of Islamabad-Moscow ties and observed that mutual concerns about Afghanistan brought the two countries further closer.

“Russia moved from an ideological position of being dismissive of Taliban and has come to recognise them as a reality. It is here that positions of Pakistan and Russia have come closer and convergences clear,” he said. The former ambassador was of the opinion that improved China-Russia ties also helped the development of Pak-Russia relations.

His word of advice to the policy makers was to come out of the cold war era mentality while working on external relations and instead of looking at things from the prism of alliances and blocs, should consider them on their merit.

NUST Chinese Studies Centre director Amb Syed Hasan Javed said China, Russia and the Central Asian Republics share Pakistan’s interest in seeing a peaceful and stable Afghanistan, free from foreign interference.

China, he emphasised, is committed to economic rehabilitation and broad-based reconciliation process in Afghanistan, as it values regional stability in and around its periphery in view of its focus on economic development.