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Pakistan’s Balochistan deal marks new strategic tilt toward US, away from China
Pakistan's leadership is reportedly seeking closer ties with the US, offering potential deals including recognition of Israel and a new port in Balochistan. This shift away from China has raised concerns about regional stability and potential backlash from neighboring countries, particularly China and Iran.
Attempts by the US to wean away Pakistan from China seem to be succeeding, at least for now. During his recent visit to the US with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in tow and at the private lunch hosted for him by US President Donald Trump this June, Pakistan Army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir left no stone unturned to ingratiate himself with Trump.
At the lunch, without wider consultations at home, he recommended Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize. In fact, the hybrid regime is now presenting the same kind of deals to the US that it once offered China.
To further please the US, Pakistan agreed to jettison its ‘principled' stand on Palestine and is willing to be part of the ‘Abraham Accord', thereby recognising Israel. It has already signed a defence agreement with Saudi Arabia so that both countries could be on the same page on this issue, thereby saving the Saudi royal family against any domestic or international blowback.
The reality is that before endorsing Trump's Gaza plan, Sharif had not even understood the nuances of various clauses of the proposed deal, some of which are believed to be detrimental to Palestinian interests.
The endorsement came as a surprise in Pakistan. That is why Sharif is being accused of trying to please the Americans at the cost of Palestinian interests. As a result, Ishaq Dar, deputy prime minister and foreign minister, had to backtrack in parliament by claiming that several clauses of the peace plan shown to them earlier in New York had been altered and Sharif didn't have time to go through it.
Besides extraction of minerals in Balochistan, Pakistan is now believed to be ready to offer a new port at Pasni in the Arabian Sea close to Gwadar, to be constructed and used by the Americans, thereby giving a firm foothold to the latter in a strategically sensitive area. Pasni in Balochistan is only 100 miles from Iran and 70 miles from the Gwadar port constructed by China.
According to the (October 4), the proposed port will be linked through a railway network to “rekindle a dormant relationship.” There is no doubt that Pakistan is sitting on vast mineral resources that remain untapped due to the raging insurgency in Balochistan and religious extremist violence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Munir carried with himself samples of rare earth minerals, which he displayed to Trump and other American officials in presence of Sharif. Sharply criticising Munir and Sharif for the same, Senator Aimal Wali Khan, great grandson of Abdul Gaffar Khan, said Munir was looking like a salesman whereas Sharif was like a manager of a showroom. He questioned who authorised the duo to cut the deals and accept Trump's Gaza plan without a discussion in parliament.
But the crucial question is why Munir and Sharif are courting the US so desperately? The real reason is that this hybrid regime wants the US by its side as it lacks domestic legitimacy and intends to keep former prime minister and the most popular leader, Imran Khan, perpetually in jail.
Perhaps Munir and Sharif have not seriously considered the domestic and regional ramifications of allowing American companies in Balochistan. China has so far not reacted to these developments, but it would be seething with anger because of the possible presence of Americans so close to its border. That is why it rejected the US proposal to take back Bagram airbase near Kabul, accusing it of trying to create regional tension.
The issue for China would be that rather than improving the security situation for Chinese interests — something President Xi Jinping had repeatedly demanded — Pakistan was introducing America into this region.
Besides China, Iran would also be angry, as it is already in the crosshairs of the US. While the Afghan Taliban is not averse to engagement with the US, they are not ready to allow Americans to re-occupy Bagram airbase near Kabul.
So, none of Pakistan's neighbours would be happy at what Munir and Sharif are proposing. The Pakistan Army should realise that there is already a war-like situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan escalating violence in the province. At the same time, how can Baloch separatists allow Americans to carry out exploitation of their resources when they were targeting Chinese for the same reason?
Munir and Sharif are on a dangerous path and taking this region towards instability and, maybe, a proxy conflict between the US and China. It would be detrimental to the interests of Pakistan and all its neighbours, including India.
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Source: EconomicTimes
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