China’s Polit Bureau member Yang Jiechi visited Islamabad and held separate meetings with PM Shehbaz Sharif, FM Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and COAS Qamar Javed Bajwa. Earlier this year former PM Imran Khan made a four day visit to Beijing where he also met President Xi. In May BBZ visited Beijing to hold meeting with Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Earlier this month a senior tri-service military delegation led by COAS Bajwa met Chinese military and govt officials in Beijing The high level interaction underlines the closeness of Pak-China ties.
China has helped Pakistan maintain political and economic stability. In March this year China rolled over $4.2b debt providing a major financial relief to Pakistan. Earlier this month China deposited $2.3 billion to boost State Bank of Pakistan reserves while this also helped to enhance rupee’s parity against US dollar.
Pak-China friendly relations have helped contain adventurist tendencies in South Asia. While recognizing the importance of the Kashmir dispute China has all along encouraged both sides to resolve the issue through peaceful means.
China has however reservations over three issues with Pakistan i.e., failure to put an end to terrorist attacks on Chinese working on projects in Pakistan, failure to fulfil commitments with Chinese investors and slow implementation of CPEC.
In July last year, nine Chinese nationals were killed in terrorist attack in Dasu. In April this year, three Chinese teachers died in a suicide attack in Karachi. The attacks caused serious concern and indignation in China. China’s Prime Minister Li Keqiang repeated his government’s demand for punishment for those involved in the attack and for enhancement of security for Chinese institutions and citizens in Pakistan.
Last year a number of Chinese companies said they were not interested in making further investment in Pakistan. They cited inappropriate treatment, especially in payment to companies that had invested in the power sector. In Decembr2021, Rs230b worth of payments to Chinese power plants were still pending. There is need on the part of the govt to resolve the long standing complaints.
The implementation of the CPEC plan has been delayed and neglected. Gwadar city has still no proper power and potable water facility. Last year in September a Senate panel expressed concern over the slow pace of development on the CPEC. Unless grievances over the three issues are removed, the Chinese side will have a genuine cause to complain.
