Welcome visit

Pakistan, facing growing international isolation, clings tightly to China.

The no-holds-barred welcome accorded to Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on his first visit to Pakistan signals just how much significance Pakistan attaches to its ties with China, a country repeatedly described through the years as amongst our closest friends. Of course, Pakistan, facing growing international isolation, desperately needs friends — and this, perhaps, is one reason why it clings so tightly to China, with elaborate phraseology much the vogue on either side.



On May 22, as Premier Li landed at the Nur Khan Airbase at Chaklala, amidst a tight security shield thrown over Islamabad, he was given a reception few foreign guests enjoy. His aircraft ushered in by fighter planes acquired by Pakistan from China, Mr Li was greeted by a delegation which included President Asif Zardari, the services chiefs, caretaker Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso and a bevy of other VIPs. The Chinese head of government was also awarded the country’s highest civil award, the Nishan-e-Pakistan, during his visit. Over his two days in Pakistan, after visiting India, Premier Li met the president, the PM and incoming prime minister Mian Nawaz Sharif, while also signing a number of agreements. Encouragingly for Pakistan, he offered expanded trade, taking it up from the current $12 billion mark to $15 billion over the next two years. Crucially, at a time when Pakistan faces a crippling power crisis, he also offered much needed help in the energy sector.

The visit, and its outcome is then clearly to be welcomed. Right now all support is to be appreciated. But we must also keep a grip on reality and peek behind the gilded curtain hung over Sino-Pakistan ties. The fact is that Chinese investment in the country is lower than that of the Netherlands, and lags way behind that of the US, while projects handed over to it, such as Saindak in Balochistan, have not taken off. We should not go by rhetoric alone, and along with keeping our ties with Beijing intact, we must also recognise what the true situation is, so that we can most effectively devise both economic and foreign policy and take the steps needed to build a better future for Pakistan and all its people.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 24^th, 2013.