N. P. Upadhyaya, Kathmandu: Undoubtedly Beijing is seeking to step up its positive impact in South Asia amid the border tussle with India and the latter having more or less bitter relations with practically all of its smaller neighbors.
It is a golden opportunity for China to enter into the vast South Asian landscape.
The timing for China at the moment is more than encouraging and discouraging for loser India.
For China this is perhaps the most appropriate moment to gain political capital from India’s troubled neighbors which is what China has been doing of late successfully to the “near to the assured” neighbors of the Indian dominion of the long distant past.
It is not China that has primarily advanced its footsteps in South Asia but instead the smaller countries bordering the fascist, hooligan and excessively coercive Hindustan aka India have had no option other than to see in China their great friend and so they invited China pleasingly as their new partner for development.
China is emboldened these days.
But is China a great friend? This needs a great and intensive debate indeed among the international relations veterans but yet for the moment, China is far better than expansionist India born after the end of the British slavery.
To tie up with India means beginning of slavery.
(India was awarded the so called gratis Independence by the British parliament).
So to conclude that China has taken over India in the region would be fitting and appropriate.
China has gained immense benefits as against India but only by default.
Had India been modest and not controlled by the Hindutva gang of four scoundrels (Modi, Doval, Jayshanker plus Amit Shah), the smaller neighbors bordering this fake nation would have won the love and sympathies from its troubled neighbors.
Seasoned diplomats and political pundits in Nepal even predict that if the Narendra Modi is elected once again, Kashmir will automatically gain independence or will assimilate in Pakistan.
The prediction is that India may split into several pieces.
India’s numerous follies is what has allowed China to fill in the vacant space in South Asia, frankly speaking.
It is indeed a different matter that China around 2005 had already entered into the South Asian region when King Gyanendra of Nepal had intensively lobbied in favor of China for the Observer status in the SAARC regional body. The most hated and the cursed Indian PM MM Singh in lieu had lobbied then for Afghanistan.
King Gyanendra thus should have been applauded by China but China was so thankless that it sided with its enemy-rival India to uproot King Gyanendra from his throne.
This raises a question: Is China then a reliable partner of Nepal? Or it could be a friend to trust ever? We doubt yet silence for the moment would be suitable.
China albeit at its best is a necessary evil for the countries of South Asia.
This could be described as a compelling compulsion for the India mis-behaved and ill-treated smaller nations.
China’s much publicized debt trap policy is already under scanner though.
Yes! For Pakistan, China is indeed an iron brother because Pakistan, the born rival of the Indian dominion, allows China whatever it needs, to promote its trade and commerce through strategically important Gwadar port. In lieu, Pakistan too has already benefited immensely from the game changer China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
The Pakistan’s Gwadar port, thanks to the Chinese assistance, the Islamic republic soon will become a regional power in a decade or so that will have an abundant economic potential to surpass the economic strength of the uncultured burden of the region-the sick and the repulsive plague of South Asia-India aka Hindustan.
China and Pakistan both have benefitted from each other and both apparently have some common “regional” goals to be achieved and thus the two nations are helping each other for shared benefits.
For China, Pakistan’s speedy development and keeping Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity intact is very important and so China has concentrated its entire energy and brain to help support the development Pakistan through the Economic Corridor.
This includes strengthening of the defense capabilities of Pakistan. Pakistan defense capabilities now match India’s.
A strong Pakistan is what China needs and this is what the South Asian nations too wish to see.
The general belief in Nepal is that a politically strong and nuclear Pakistan is a matching and the most “needed” reliable political deterrent for the entire South Asian nations.
However, unfortunately Pakistan has so far failed to approach to the smaller South Asian nations.
Thanks that Pakistan High Commissioner Imran Ahmad Siddiqui broke the Pakistani silence and met secretly the Foreign Minister of Bangladesh AK Abdul Momen on July 1st and stirred the Delhi Gang of 4 establishment in Delhi.
A panicked and scared Delhi tried to appease Bangladesh by sending ten “used and over used locomotives” to Dhaka. However, Dhaka is feeling more insulted now with the fresh what the Indians call khairati (charity-gift) from Delhi.
If Pakistan wants to replace India as a regional power then this nation must activate its otherwise lethargic diplomatic missions abroad, more so in the South Asian nations, and confidently assure them all that Pakistan shall come to their rescue in a determined manner as and when expansionist and coercive India pounces upon them.
To begin with, Pakistan should have initiated the campaign to assure the smaller South Asian nation’s right after Nepal had published its new map incorporating its captured territories by the expansionist India.
It was just a “breaking news” for Pakistani Television and nothing more than that.
Most of the noted media outlets in Pakistan ignored the Nepali predicament at time when India intruded into the Nepali territory and constructed a link road to Tibet which gulped some seventeen kilometers of Nepali landmass.
For instance, Pakistan can extend helps to Nepal in its bid to circulate new map in the world unimpeded. Pakistani help would be most welcome. But will Pakistan?
PM Imran Khan has the political potential and acumen but he perhaps ignores his own latent political stamina or his advisors divert his attention from Nepal?
The Imran Khan could also extend his country’s moral support to Nepal on the Nepali desire to scrap the Gorkha soldiers’ recruitment treaty with India.
In fact, Nepal needs vocal support from SA nations more so from Pakistan. It will definitely boost the morale of Nepal if Pakistan too understands the gravity of Nepali desire to end the recruitment tradition.
Nepal no longer wants to sell its brave youths for the safety of ever ungrateful India.
In fact, he should take the initiative and convene a regional webinar comprising of Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and baby Bhutan and talk on Covid pandemic and the pressing issues of the region and more. If Modi can convene a regional seminar then why can’t Imran Khan? Modi organized a seminar on March 15 this year itself. Earlier the better.
Similarly, if Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi can organize such event with Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan then why the Pak FM can’t? This applies equally to Nepal PM KP Oli as well.
It is the time to replace India by China with the support of the Pakistani regime and other countries in the new Quad that has already taken a formal shape.
It is more or less like the India sponsored BIMSTEC. India has nothing to panic of this new South Asian quadrangle or the Quad.
In doing so China and Pakistan will have tentatively replaced India at least for some decades.
After losing Nepal, Sri Lanka and now Bangladesh, India is left only with baby Bhutan which is just an Indian protectorate.
However, simmering discontent inside Bhutan against India remains yet to be exploited by China or Pakistan.
Pakistan must approach the South Asian nations and make its constituency to match with what India have had in the past. And the past was horrible for smaller nations of India.
As stated in earlier paragraphs, for compelling compulsions, the smaller nations of South Asia have preferred to side with China. That’s it.
In a non-ending series of severe jolts to the erratic Indian establishment, the last one could be taken as the one which has just been awarded by India’s arch rival China when this country just the last week of the last month 26 July, organized the first ever Foreign Ministers webinar session with Pakistan, Nepal, and Afghanistan as “chosen” participants.
A very smart and assertive Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi took the lead in convening this important teleconference comprising of the four countries wherein he mooted a four-point formula to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, boost economic recovery and resumption of the Belt and Road Initiative infrastructure projects after the end of the Covid pandemic.
Chairing the video conference from Beijing, the Chinese foreign Minister Wang Yi hoped that the “four nations would work together to extend China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to Afghanistan”.
He implied that the new quad will tentatively work to enhance the CPEC.
This video conference has come close on the heels of the month’s long India-China border standoff at the Galwan valley and the fairly strained relations with sovereign Nepal which may be very hard for New Delhi to digest the “event” and that too initiated by China in a region that India thought to be its sphere of political influence or say prerogative.
Needless to say, Indian debacle in Galwan valley reminded us all of the 1962 and India’s humiliating defeat at the war front with China which till today scares the Indians more so the Army top hats.
Wang Yi urged his friends from Nepal, Pakistan and Afghanistan to exploit the geographic advantages that is available at the moment, strengthen exchanges and expanding the connections between the participating four countries (Nepal, Pakistan, China and Afghanistan) with the Central Asian nations and by doing so Minister Wang Yi hoped that regional peace and stability will be maintained.
But will India allow peace to be established? Indian RAW machinery may have come into action the next minute of this Chinese adventure.
Is it that China intends to constitute a Mini-SAARC excluding India? Yes perhaps. The quad has already taken a shape though Nepal FM denies. But why is he scared? He should better not panic.
India’s relationship with its neighbors has seen a dip/nosedive in recent months. Pakistan is its known rival but New Delhi’s ties with Nepal, Bangladesh and Iran too have of late dipped down to an unimaginable level, and thus China is the common factor behind this paradigm shift observed in the South Asian politics, writes the Express Tribune dated July 27/2020.
Observers in Nepal firmly believe that China’s outreach has by default helped Pakistan to reset its ties with certain regional countries, for example Bangladesh. Pakistan is also now looking to deepen its ties with Nepal as Kathmandu is slowly coming out of the Indian grip.
High placed sources claim that the Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had proposed a tele-conversation with Nepal PM KP Oli through Nepal’s foreign Ministry, however, some India bend moles in Nepal’s foreign office leaked the Pakistani proposition and thus the talks failed.
But our own source confidently confirms that PM Khan and Nepal PM Oli are now in close contact with each other.
The virtual session organized by China has surely come after PM Oli and Imran Khan have talked over phone.
Sources in Kathmandu claim that in a week or so, Nepal PM Oli is all set to talk to his B’desh and the Sri Lankan counterpart and with Ashraf Ghani, the President of Afghanistan.
A formal request has already been made to the Bangladesh government through Bangla and the Sri Lankan mission in Kathmandu and the embassy of Afghanistan in Delhi.
Addressing the mini SAARC quadrangle conference, FM Wang Yi said that “we will actively promote the building of CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor) and the Trans Himalayan Connectivity Network (THCN).
(Notably and for the record, China is already an Observer in the SAARC regional body and China is also in South Asia as it borders many a SA Nations)).
Wang Yi’s strong desire to bring in Afghanistan in the CPEC scheme does speak that China is interested in the charismatic development of war torn Afghanistan.
This means that in some way or the other Afghanistan has reasons to come closer to China.
This certainly is a political catastrophe for the Indian dominion.
All in all, the China-Pakistan iron brotherly relationship is being developed as a model for the rest of the South Asian nations who are for a variety of political reasons were having sharp differences with the regional devil-that India is.
In all, China’s recent efforts aimed at establishing a mini-SAARC (South Asian Quad) quadrangle excluding “deliberately” the former British colony is not only a successful diplomatic coup against India but also augurs well for Pakistan as it provides this Islamic republic an opportunity in changing the regional dynamics that was largely dominated by its rival-India.
After China, it is Pakistan who should take the South Asian leadership.
Pakistan has to assert its greater role in the SA region which is terribly deformed by the Indian hegemon.
However, why Bangladesh was kept out from this “growth quadrangle” demands a separate debate. B’desh must have been included for multiple reasons. China and Nepal together with Pakistan must look into the matter seriously or else RAW will damage the new Quad. India is famous for its destructive habits.
The most rewarded with this Chinese scheme will be Pakistan and Afghanistan as the two bordering countries will not only come closer but also approach Central Asian nations for trading activities.
Central Asia will provide access to Europe for trading activities.
China, Pakistan and Afghanistan will now definitely profit from the Gwadar and the Chabahar port in Iran to expand their trade/business activities across Europe through Central Asian nations. But Bangladesh must not be ignored for multiple reasons. Pakistan understands the underlying reasons, hopefully. The act of resetting its ties with some countries is highly awaited. That’s all.