IN the last article, I recapped part of my recent discussions with officials of the US government and think tanks in Washington. The article focused on their concern with the current state of affairs in Pakistan and the future direction of Pakistan. What follows is the rest of the discussion on another US conundrum: how to handle Pakistan-China relationship, and their perception of the oversized Chinese influence in Pakistan. Understandably and for good geo-strategic reasons, US colleagues are concerned. I admitted that I’m no expert on Pak-China relationships, however, as a keen observer of the political and economic developments in Pakistan, I offered them the following:
The foundation of Pakistan and Chinese friendship goes back to 1951 when one of the first high-powered delegations from Pakistan visited China for many months to establish the groundwork for long- term partnership and future cooperation. Incidentally, the delegation comprised Sheikh Mujeeb-ur-Rahman (the future founder of Bangladesh), Miangul Aurangzeb (Crown Prince of Swat) and many other notables, and was led by Sufi Abdul Hameed (who happens to be the author’s grandfather). Since then, Pakistan and China have enjoyed a very close friendship which culminated into a massive economic partnership named CPEC. It is arguable who is benefiting more from this investment, but be that as it may, it has positive as well as negative impact on the historic relationship. On the positive side, Pakistan and China have become more economically and strategically intertwined since the CPEC road projects have facilitated transportation and trade between the two countries. They have also brought billions of dollars of savings to China through reduction in transportation time and cost for Chinese exports to ME, Africa and Europe. Concurrently, Pakistan has benefitted from Chinese FDI and have gained advanced infrastructure.
On the flip side, it pains me to note this, since Chinese and Pakistani people have been interacting directly, they have discovered that their cultures, work ethics and moralities are very different. So while the G2G relationship may have been strengthened or at least become un-expendable, the P2P and B2B relationships have come under stress. And I don’t see that reversing, only getting worse over time unless the governments of both countries launch cultural sensitivity programs for their respective populations towards better mutual understanding.
Based on the preceding observations, my advice to my US friends was; do not fret over Pak-China relationship because that will continue to follow its own course. On the contrary, any effort by the US to undermine the Pak-China relationship will serve no good purpose. No one in my experience has ever gotten taller by pulling someone else down, and thus the US should not attempt to undermine Chinese influence in Pakistan. In fact, US should rethink their strategic partnership with Pakistan which to date, has always been transactional and based on regional military adventurism, or perhaps more bluntly put, Pakistan has served as a mercenary force and a front line proxy state for US wars in the region. The US needs to relook at their role in the world, not just Pakistan, and perhaps walk away from being the policeman and the military strongman of the world and morph into an economic partner. That is how China is commercially colonizing the world without firing a shot and US should learn from the Chinese model!
The US should also push for closer economic ties in Pakistan with a focus on B2B partnerships in the SME and social sectors. In the past, most of the investment in Pakistan has been by US-MNCs which typically involve US big boys dealing with Pakistani state actors. Partnerships between US and Pakistani SMEs will bring benefit to the largest segment of business entities between both countries and lead to more P2P interactions which will lead to better economic and cultural ties. There are many areas of potential partnerships which should be studied by both governments and “thrust investment sectors” should be identified (agro- processing, higher education, skilled workforce development, tourism, health care and elderly care workforce, IT, manufacturing, etc.) for which investment loan guarantees, tax holidays and other incentives can be launched to encourage increased partnerships.
At this point, one of the US colleagues noted that in the recent past, they have brought together GoP and Pakistani business representatives with US businesses to foster B2B partnerships. However, these sessions haven’t amounted to much since a clear vision or plan is not offered by the Pakistan side. I agreed that perhaps Pakistan delegations are not well prepared, but the US Corporations can certainly do their own due diligence and ascertain areas of investment. For example, I pointed out that Pakistan has gone from a handful of foreign auto-manufacturers to around 20 in the past decade, and I can surmise that a Jeep, Ford, Chevy or another US make would command much more loyal clientele than their Chinese counterparts, simply because that US brands are trusted for their quality. A country of 250 million is the 5th largest market by population in the world and US needs to see it as an economic partner and a sizable market, rather than a regional military outpost – and US needs to stop worrying about the Pak-China relationship.
—The writer is a former Senior Advisor to the Government and a sector development specialist. He is on the Governing Council of Non-Resident Pakistanis (NRPs) in USA and Pakistan’s Buddhist Heritage Promotion Ambassador for GTPL, a company under SIFC.
