Things are only getting worse for Pakistan; during his meeting with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in the historic Uzbek city of Samarkand (September 16) President Xi Jinping called on Pakistan to provide “solid protection” for hundreds of Chinese working on the CPEC projects in the country and build stronger synergy between the development of strategies of the all-weather allies. “China hopes that Pakistan will provide solid protection for the security of Chinese citizens and institutions in Pakistan as well as the lawful rights and interests of Chinese businesses,” Xi told Sharif, airing Beijing’s concern over recurring terror attacks on the Chinese workers , on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation (SCO).
Coming from President Xi himself, words such as “solid protection” and “the lawful rights and interests of Chinese businesses,” should more than alarm Pakistan’s ruling elites. Long-standing dispute over electricity tariffs , particularly since 2020 and the lingering issue of delayed payments to all the Chinese power companies, have now found expression in public at the highest level. Pakistan owes nearly Rs.400 billion to the Chinese power companies. The issue had only partially been resolved when ex PM Imran Khan visited Beijing to participate in the Winter Olympics early February.
PM Sharif – as usual – showered praise on Xi’s leadership, calling him a “leader of strategic foresight” whom Pakistani people hold in high esteem. But meanwhile such rhetorical expressions mean little in an increasingly complex and volatile world. Little do Pakistani leaders realise that the relationship has been under strain for months, particularly since the opposition launced the vote of no-confidence against Imran Khan. Circular debt has been a lingering issue but most serious concern related to the perception that the PDM government came into under the US influence. The continued political uncertainty and instability has only aggravated the Chinese concern about the viability of a country that it wishes to stand on its feet.
At the same time, media reports suggest, Beijing has also meanwhile started using Uzbekistan for its trade and relief cargo for Afghanistan. One major reason, it seems, are the bottlenecks that Chinese goods destined for Afghanistan face, particularly at Pakistan’s crowded Torkham border.
Another disturbing news relates to the $ 10 billion worth of investments in Pakistan that Qatar had promised in 2019. Reportedly, the rulers have decided to divert that investment to the politically stable Bangladesh after Qatari official’s frustration with Pakistani bureaucratic inertia and lack of proactive approaches.
Similarly, the goodwill that once existed for an ally in Saudi Arabia and UAE, seems to have evaporated too; no fresh funding for lack of trust in the system that governs Pakistan. Both countries have only been rolling-over funds that they had extended during the previous government.
Who would listen to the impassioned appeals for help by a prime minister who lords over a bloated 74-member cabinet and who took almost the same number of people to New York for the UN General Assembly session?
What has actually kept the Pakistani stakeholders – addicted to easy loans – insensitive to the issue of radical economic reforms that friendly countries have been expecting for long? Alarmingly, most of them somehow remained convinced that loans from friendly countries would eventually be written off. So don’t bother about the conditionalities attached to the bilateral loans – particularly from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and China.
The propensity to recklessly live off borrowed money for political objectives has run down Pakistan’s economy like never before. I began cautioning Pakistani leaders back in 2016 not to test the Chinese friendship beyond certain limits. No country will jeopardize its own long-term political and economic interests just for the sake of friendship. It takes two to tango. One way express never works nor is it lasting.
“Your prime minister wants things done overnight – without any preparation,” was how a Chinese academic familiar with the CPEC conversations had told me when I asked him about the Pakistani response to CPEC proposals in October 2016. Sadly, our leaders and bureaucracy kept messing up issues, without regard for the longevity of relations based on mutual trust and reciprocity of actions. Pakistan may be sandwiched between the US and China but balancing this relationship and safeguarding its interests will require introspection and an reappraisal of approaches. Nothing is lasting in the absence of honest reciprocity. Respect comes with integrity, vision and a commitment to self-reliance. The era of borrowed prosperity is over.
