Xi comes calling to Pakistan, bearing gifts worth $45 billion
AP Chinese President Xi Jinping.
China to finalise deals for Maritime Silk Road, eight submarines
Chinese
President Xi Jinping is heading to Islamabad on a two-day visit
starting Monday, which, deepened by billions of dollars of likely
investments, is expected to test Beijing’s capacity to avoid
antagonising India too much.
The Chinese President is
expected to sign infrastructure and energy deals estimated at $45
billion, which would be used to build the Pakistani node of Beijing’s
ambitious Maritime Silk Road (MSR).
In turn, this would provide China another point of access into the Indian Ocean, from Pakistan’s Arabian Sea port of Gwadar.
The Financial Times is
reporting that $34 billion of the $45-billion investment will go into
new energy projects. Another $11 billion will be pumped into new
infrastructure projects linked to the Pakistan-China economic corridor,
which has been woven into the MSR initiative.
The Karachi-Gwadar-Kashgar rail and road link is at the heart of this project.
During
Mr. Xi’s visit, China is expected to finalise with Pakistan, a deal for
eight diesel electric submarines — a move that is bound to raise
concerns in India. In a measured response, Defence Minister Manohar
Parrikar observed, during the course of an interview, that India will
have the capability “to match” the proposed Pakistani acquisitions.
China
is expected to finalise with Pakistan, a deal for eight diesel-electric
submarines during President Xi Jinping’s visit next week. Defence
Minister Manohar Parrikar however has said New Delhi has the ability to
match the proposed acquisitions by Islamabad. “I do not see it as a big
problem because we will have enough submarines by the time Pakistan gets
these eight. By the time they get the deliveries, we can manufacture
15-20 submarines,” he asserted in an interview.
But
analysts say that the devil would lie in the detail, for Indian security
interests could be gravely impacted if China cooperates with Pakistan
to turn the submarines into platforms for a second nuclear strike
capability. Reports in Bloomberg have quoted Iskander Rehman of the
Washington-based Atlantic Council as saying that Pakistani naval
commanders may want to follow Israel’s example of equipping conventional
submarines with nuclear-tipped missiles. Pakistan formed the Naval
Strategic Force Command Headquarters in 2012, which would be in charge
of the “nation’s second-strike capability,” a statement on a Pakistan
military website had said.
Beijing’s balancing act
Despite
the special relationship between China and Pakistan, observers say that
India has acquired fresh leverage in its ties with Beijing, which is
seeking New Delhi’s cooperation to fulfill its aspirations to develop
the critically important Silk Road blueprint.
Some
Chinese academics in government-linked think tanks say that China is
wary that the United States in the Western Pacific, India in the Indian
Ocean, and Russia in Central Asia could be possible impediments to the
“belt and road’’ initiative, a coinage that encompasses China’s plan to
develop the land-based Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st century MSR.
Anti-terror cooperation
Ahead
of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to China, there appears to be
greater sensitivity in Beijing to India’s concerns regarding terrorism
that originates from Pakistan. In a conversation with a group of Indian
journalists, Hu Shisheng, of the China Institute of Contemporary
International Relations, stated that, “India's concerns over terrorism
will be addressed in a more constructive way.” However, he pointed out
that “China and Pakistan have been undergoing very close anti-terror
cooperation,” especially to safeguard the Gwadar-linked economic
corridor — an observation that reflects Beijing’s emerging dilemma of
striking a balance between China’s “all-weather” ties with Pakistan and a
rapidly maturing relationship with India, under President Xi’s watch.
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