On April 7th China directly signed an agreement with the NWFP provincial government to further friendly ties with its Xingjian province. The agreement was signed by the Pakistan Ambassador and the Governor of Xingjian province. Thus China is bypassing the central government of Pakistan to forge direct ties with its potential breakaway province. Thereby China is safeguarding its strategic interests. Afghanistan, Baluchistan and the territory it occupies in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir are necessary for Beijing to maintain its access to Gwadar port in Baluchistan and to Iran with which it has finalized mega contracts for supply of energy. It also seeks to maintain easy access from its Xingjian province to troubled Tibet.
First of all India must ensure that no big power poaches on South Asian turf to further any divide and dominate policy. For stability the cultural nationalism of the subcontinent necessitates closer ties between its member nations than with any outside power. Interestingly, ancient Hindustan derived its name from the Indus River. Arabs considered land east of the Indus as Hindustan. Islamabad falls east of the Indus, Peshawar does not. Almost three decades ago when this scribe had a private conversation with a senior Chinese diplomat, Qian Quichen, who subsequently rose to become China’s Foreign Minister and later the Vice President, the matter came up whether Sino-Indian relations would improve if the substantive results of the 1947 Partition were undone. It was suggested that China’s strategic routes to the Middle East and Tibet could be guaranteed. It was also pointed out that the Partition was the result of imperialism of which China too had been a victim. Mr Qian found the idea novel and very interesting. Instead of attempting to isolate India in South Asia, China would gain much more from trade and cultural ties with entire South Asia functioning like one community.
The leaders of Pakistan should reappraise history and recognize ground realities inside Pakistan as well as the growing international disapproval outside it. Foreign Minister Quraishi has reiterated desire to resume the Indo-Pakistan peace dialogue. But experience shows that confidence building measures and a gradual improvement of ties cannot succeed when the enemies of Indo-Pakistan friendship can derail progress by acts of terrorism. What is required is a commitment at the top level: India and Pakistan must agree to a time-bound agenda to create a South Asian Community that has joint defence, common tariffs and free movement of labour and capital without visas. Before that can happen the nuclear tension would have to be defused by a joint nuclear policy that aims at eventual global nuclear disarmament. And the joint efforts to stamp out terrorism from the region would be the first requisite for creating mutual confidence.
All this is a very long haul. But if Pakistan seeks security and stability the time to start on this process is now. It is illusory to think that India and Pakistan can maintain hostility with each other and at the same time achieve stability within their own borders.