‘China, Afghan conflict to shape Pak-US ties’

Prof Markey urges Islamabad to strike balance in ties with Beijing, Washington

ISLAMABAD:

Foreign policy experts believe that United States President Joe Biden’s policy for South Asia would be driven by competition with China and developments in Afghanistan; and that Pakistan will have to position itself accordingly for keeping the bilateral ties on an even keel.

The experts were speaking at a webinar hosted by the Islamabad Policy Institute (IPI) on ‘South Asia and Biden Administration: Engagement and Challenges’. The think tank in a press release issued the other day said the event had been held to discuss the new administration’s priorities for South Asia and to analyse where does it place Pakistan within its broader strategic interests in the region.

Daniel Markey, a professor in International Relations at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), said global competition with China was the organising principle of Biden administration’s foreign policy.

“Washington, now very clearly perceives China as the global competitor to the United States and this (thinking) is likely to remain for a long period of time to come and, therefore, all of what the United States does internationally will be structured with China in mind,” he maintained.

He recalled that one of the earliest foreign policy acts of President Biden was holding a discussion with Quad partners in Asia.

“This implies that Washington is now turning to alliances and partnerships as the building blocks for the global competition with China.” The expert urged Islamabad to strike a balance in its ties with China and the US and create “openings for outside investors,” by offering them incentives and benefits similar to those extended to Chinese companies and investors.

Prof Markey, while explaining the Biden administration’s approach to dealing with the Afghanistan conflict, said that it was attempting to accelerate the dialogue, and progress towards a framework for an agreement between the warring parties that could enable the US to stick to a timeline for military withdrawal similar to one given in the Feb 2020 agreement with the Taliban.

Biden administration, he said, is clearly committed to leaving Afghanistan, but wants to do so in a way that at least does not lead to rapid deterioration of security and establishes a regional compact that could provide a degree of stability or help manage instability, if it happens, going forward.

“For Pak-US relations, the crucial question is: what will be the relative near-term outcome in Afghanistan and what will be the nature of the cooperation between the United States and Pakistan,” he said, adding that accelerated dialogue and diplomacy could bring opportunities for broader cooperation between US and Pakistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 18^th, 2021.