Imran’s China sojourn reeks of Pakistan’s geo-economic desperation

On Sunday, Feb 6, Prime Minister Imran Khan returned to Pakistan after completing a ‘successful’ four-day-long visit to China. He attended the Beijing Winter Olympics opening ceremony, which many countries boycotted on account of China’s human rights abuses. However, the real purpose for Khan was to seek financial assistance for the tottering Pakistani economy and ensure that China doesn’t curtail its investments at a time when no one else ready to invest in the country.

Besieged by several challenges at home and abroad, Khan searched for some solace, and the China visit gave him the opportunity.

Politically, Khan is wrestling to hold on to power after his confrontation with the Pakistani Army over the appointment of the head of the Inter-Services Intelligence, ISI,.[1] There are also visible signs of growing cracks within his cabinet.

The confrontation between Khan and Defence Minister Pervez Khattak over discrimination being meted out to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been widely reported.[2]

Diplomatically too, Islamabad faces challenging times with unrelenting U.S. hostilities, even as Rawalpindi’s proxy regime in Afghanistan seeks to pile on Pakistan over the Durand Line issue.

Even worse than diplomatic and political problems are Khan’s economic challenges. Rising external debt, inflation and unemployment, and sliding forex reserves have accentuated his problems.[3] [4] Moreover, the recent flaring protests in Gwadar and the insurgent violence in Balochistan threaten to harm Pakistan’s core interests.

Khan’s visit to Beijing came in this context, where he not only sought to extract more money from the principal benefactor but also secure his waning political fortunes.

Pakistan and China signed an agreement during the visit to begin the second phase of the ambitious $60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which Islamabad considers as its gateway to prosperity. Under this agreement, Chinese companies would set up steel and metal recycling plants in Gwadar, establish Special Economic Zones and engage in agricultural production.[5]

In a bid to showcase Pakistan’s potential to attract FDI, Khalid Mansoor, CPEC Advisor to Prime Minister, has boasted about several other Chinese investment projects. Likewise, Khan too lauded China’s “continued support and assistance” to Pakistan’s socio-economic development that had “greatly benefitted from the high-quality development of the CPEC.”[6]

This eloquence can’t hide the fact that there is a desperation to ensure that the Chinese stay invested in Pakistan, despite the deteriorating security situation in Gwadar and Balochistan.

Baloch insurgents have launched several attacks targeting the Chinese workers engaged in CPEC work as also the Pakistani security forces in recent months.

In one significant attack last July, a bus blast in neighbouring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province killed 13 people, including nine Chinese workers involved in building the Dasu hydropower plant, part of the CPEC.[7]

On the eve of Prime Minister Khan’s visit to Beijing, the insurgents mounted a major attack on Frontier Corps in the Naushki and Panjgur districts in Balochistan, leading to the deaths of at least 12 soldiers and nine militants. For the record, however,

For the record, however, the Interior Minister Rashid said only four soldiers were martyred and asserted that the security forces in the area are in control the situation.[8)

Even more interesting is Imran Khan’s turnaround on CPEC. In his earlier avatar as the opposition leader, he scathingly attacked the CPEC for its preference for Punjab over other provinces and the secret nature of Chinese investments. And his party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party from the Opposition benches had demanded complete transparency in CPEC investments.[9] After coming to power, Khan did what his predecessors did namely total silence on Chinese investments.

A report analysing Chinese investments has underlined that a significant portion of Chinese development financing under the CPEC consists of loans that are at or near commercial rates as opposed to grants.[10] And now, by securing additional financial assistance from Beijing, he has let sink the country further in the Chinese debt trap.

Grey listed by the Financial Action Task Force, Pakistan has been trying all tricks to secure foreign investment. China is one cash cow Pakistan intends to milk fully since no one else is extending similar financial treatment.

Islamabad is also said to be reaching out to Russia and Kazakhstan to borrow $2 bn to stabilise its forex reserves.[11] It is important to point out here that Pakistan has been attempting to revive the suspended loan programme worth $6 billion from the International Monetary Fund.[12]

Such is the Pakistani desperation to secure Chinese approval that Khan even went as far as to reaffirm support for the Chinese government policies in Xinjiang, Hong Kong, and Tibet, where in recent months, there has been intense criticism of China’s brutal human rights record.[13] Khan’s stance on Xinjiang is in direct contrast to his usual prattling about Islamophobia and atrocities against Muslims worldwide. No wonder his own people have criticised him. Commenting on Khan’s remarks, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan co-chair Asad Butt said that this exposes the hypocrisy of Khan.[14]

Clearly, Khan’s hunger for money seems to have blinded him to the dire conditions of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang. (POREG)

[1] https://tribune.com.pk/story/2326488/pm-sets-precedent-in-dg-isi-appointment

[2] https://www.dawn.com/news/1669327

[3] https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/930482-imf-completes-6th-review-approves-1bn-tranche-for-pakistan

[4] https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/930590-forex-reserves-decline-398mln

[5] https://profit.pakistantoday.com.pk/2022/02/07/multi-billion-dollar-investments-in-cpec-phase-ii-says-adviser-to-pm/

[6] https://www.dawn.com/news/1673411

[7] https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3141438/pakistan-bus-blast-left-9-chinese-nationals-dead-was-work

[8] https://tribune.com.pk/story/2341789/at-least-13-terrorists-killed-as-sporadic-fighting-continues-in-panjgur

[9] https://www.dawn.com/news/1649464

[10] https://docs.aiddata.org/ad4/pdfs/Banking_on_the_Belt_and_Road__Insights_from_a_new_global_dataset_of_13427_Chinese_development_projects.pdf

[11] https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/929647-pakistan-to-seek-loans-from-russia-china-kazakhstan