Imtiaz Gul
The remarks that Prime Minister Imran Khan made about China before an audience at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York on September 23 (2019) not only laid to rest the motivated “misgivings and doubts” about Sino-Pak relations but also served as yet example of how closely the two countries stand together in the new world order.
“Beijing has never interfered in any of Islamabad’s foreign or domestic policy, they don’t tell us what to do and what not. Both countries see each other as partners in attaining regional peace and sustainable economic development Moreover, Khan explained , saying the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a great opportunity that Beijing is offering. They have a $2 trillion import market. China has given us a preferential trade agreement (PTA) where we can export to them at the same terms as the ASEAN countries do”, the prime minister told a hushed audience. Apart from that, plans are being chalked out to relocate some of the Chinese industry in Pakistan, bringing in technology and other skills, he added.
In another interview with MSNBC (September 26), Khan also questioned the American way of handling political matters abroad – an indirect question on the US-led geo-political interventions that he believes have diverted attention from domestic problems. He also highlighted the difference between the American and the Chinese approaches to conflict and development.
“If I were an American I would ask (the govt), you’ve spent $1.5T on this futile war in Afghanistan? While the US kept pouring money in this futile war in Afghanistan, the Chinese were developing the first world infrastructure and you just have to go to China to see where their infrastructure stands. I am here in New York and watching the car bumping around on roads,” Khan remarked to the amusement of the anchorpersons and the audience.
At the CFR, the Prime Minister, refused to be drawn into a controversy over Beijing’s policies vis a vis Uighurs in Xinjiang.
“We talk to Beijing about sensitive issues in private, making no public statements; that’s how the Chinese modus operandi is,” Khan replied, suggesting Pakistan had no intention of interfering in China’s internal matters.
As expected, Khan’s candid and unambiguous remarks drew high praise from Beijing.
“China highly commends Prime Minister Imran Khan’s positive remarks on China-Pakistan relations in the interview and totally agrees with that. China and Pakistan are all-weather strategic cooperative partners with mutual trust, mutual understanding and mutual support. The China-Pakistan friendship is unbreakable. Our relations enjoy sound momentum, as evidenced by frequent high-level exchanges and deepening mutually beneficial cooperation,” said a ministry of foreign affairs spokesperson.
The friendly cooperation between China and Pakistan is in the common interests of our two countries and conducive to upholding international peace, stability, equity and justice, said the spokesperson.
PM Khan’s categorical statements on China were in fact the best rebuke to propagandists and those spreading rumours on the Chinese motives. In fact nothing could have been better than to show-case Pakistan’s ties with China on the American soil before a local audience and to explain that the notion of Chinese infringement on Pakistan’s sovereignty was misplaced. There are no “tradeoffs” behind this economic cooperation, Khan said emphatically.
