File photo. Aamir Qureshi—AFP
In an interview with Politico, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar made clear that “Islamabad has no appetite to pick a side in the growing global rivalry between Washington and Beijing.” She also stressed that Pakistan was not interested in joining any new cold war. Unfortunately, the simmering tensions between the U.S. and China make it all but inevitable for states to pick sides between them, especially as Washington increasingly leans on India to implement its regional strategy against China. “We are highly threatened by this notion of splitting the world into two blocs,” cautioned Khar. “We are very concerned about this decoupling … anything that splits the world further.” Recalling the historical ties between Pakistan and the U.S., she said Islamabad wished for this to continue. “Pakistan also has the reality of being in a close, collaborative mode with China and—until China suddenly came into everyone’s threat perception—that was always the case,” she added.
International apprehensions over China-Pakistan ties have only grown since the launch of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), with critics largely falling into two camps: the first believes Pakistan and China are not economically compatible, while a second claims Beijing will “dump” Pakistan over its neighboring state’s persistent instability—economic, political, security—that threatens Chinese investments.
Within Pakistan, however, the completion of CPEC is seen as a means of great financial benefit for both nations, improving global and regional connectivity, and containing Islamic extremism. China also needs it to succeed to prove the value of its “win-win” foreign policy that features the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as a flagship initiative. It could also eventually boost Pakistan’s ties with rival India if it adopts China’s policy of not allowing border conflicts to disturb bilateral trade. The path to Pakistan’s prosperity is through trade; its time the country realizes this and acts on it.