Pakistan-China Relations

President Obama should make his stance clear on the issues of nuclear cooperation between China and Pakistan and perhaps take up the issue with Hu Jintao when he visits Washington DC early next year.

China’s moves concerning Kashmir evoke apprehension regarding retrogressive changes in its Kashmir policy, designed to give it a hold over India. The best case scenario for China is that the Kashmir issue is never resolved; and if this issue inches towards any kind of resolution, that China should be considered a party to the Kashmir dispute.

The NSG will be in trouble if China goes ahead with its plan to sell nuclear reactors to a non-NPT country like Pakistan.

The first step for China to formalise the deal is to inform the NSG member countries of its plans to export two reactors to Pakistan or seek relaxation for the future supply of reactors.

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf’s recent visit to China from April 10-16 revealed the depth and confidence that highlight Pakistan-China relations. The much repeated refrain of an “all-weather friendship” between the two countries is now transforming itself from the erstwhile “purely defensive and strategic” in nature to one of deep economic engagement.

The traditional Sino-Pakistan friendship of 55 years now has a new objective—to improve the economic content of their relationship, which comprises trade, investment and energy co-operation within a bilateral framework. The result of this determination to implement the new economic agenda is visible in the quantum of Chinese investment in Pakistan.