China is decidedly the biggest power in the entire South Asia. It is also said to be able to influence the world politics, being one of the five super-powers. Smaller countries in the neighbourhood always look for an ‘elder brother role’ to be played by China in resolving their disputes. 

After the recent test explosions, the need for China’s mediation between India and Pakistan has become all the more important. The entire West has its own priorities while looking at the issues of this region, and it’s only China that seems to have the potential of conceiving these issues with a regional approach. However, with its recently reached strategic agreements with the US, there may appear a shift in China’s policy toward the regional issues – mainly the Pak-India conflict. 

To look deep into the nature and extent of the US-China partnership and how it could affect the regional politics, JRC decided to invite editors, senior journalists, intellectuals and experts on international politics at the third of the series of dialogues on the post-explosions scenario. 

The dialogue started with a brief opener by Dr Mohammed Tanveer secretary JRC. He told the audience that JRC looked at the recent US-China agreements as a major development that was bound to influence the regional politics. Therefore, he added, it was found inevitable that the local journalists were fully aware of the pros and cons of the partnership between the two powers. 

Senior journalist Khaled Ahmed said that there was a lot in those agreements for us to learn.  He said that despite glaring differences between Republicans and Democrats, and the adverse reaction of the American public and intelligentsia over development of relations with China, President Clinton had decided to improve relations with China. Due to the communistic set-up, Khaled Ahmed added, the reaction of a certain section of the Chinese society was also against this partnership. However, he said the economic interests of both the countries had led to such a revolutionary development. 

Elaborating further, Khaled Ahmed said that the US remained a big market for the Chinese goods while there had also been a huge US investment in China. Moreover, he said, China was so far the biggest debtor of the IMF and the World Bank, as a result of which it had shown a double-digit growth rate. 

He further said that improvement in Sino-US relations was not an overnight development. Tracing the recent history, he said China had not opposed any US move or resolution in the United Nations in the last one decade. Recently, the Chinese were slowly penetrating in the huge American markets to make a surplus as well as seek fresh foreign investors, he added. 

He said the US, on the other hand, feared that China might emerge as a vital economic entity in future. China is also contemplating to devalue its currency to revive the ailing Asian economies and to test its impact on them – something that America did not favour, he said.  “With this agreement, the US will also be in a position to influence Chinese policy toward such important issues” he viewed.

He further said that following the Indian explosions, Pakistan was mistaken by the concept that the Chinese might take a stand in its favour and might turn the unipolar world into a bipolar one. But, it ended up quite differently for our foreign ministry officials, he added. “However, it is quite a healthy development that both superpowers had shown agreement on resolving the South Asian issues, regardless of their individual tilts.” He maintained.

Renowned columnist Abbas Rasheed said that instead of blindly accepting the mediation offers of the superpowers on Kashmir, Pakistani policy-makers should devise a strategy of their own. Appreciating the world powers’ concern over the nuclear race in South Asia, he said that both Pakistan and India should also apply their own minds to get out of the quagmire. 

He was of the view that China’s new found confidence in its own economic and military muscle is a caution for the US. That is why the Americans had rushed to seek Chinese help in not only controlling the nuclear race but also the economic collapse of many South Asian countries, he added. 

Chairperson JRC Rashid Rehman stressed the need for bilateral resolving of issues between Pakistan and India. He said no doubt the US-China relations could be helpful in resolving the conflicts, but Pakistan and India should not solely depend on it. 

He further said that Kashmir should not be made an issue to risk the lives of millions of people on both sides of the border. He expressed hope that in the changing world scenario, both Indian and Pakistani leaders would show some rationality and would concentrate on bilateral talks on vital issues. 

Rashid was of the opinion that there was a lot in the US-China relations for the developing countries to learn. He said that China had successfully introduced market economy while its political system remained a communist one. A certain shift had taken place in the Chinese policy toward Pakistan also, as a result of which the former will suffer commercial as well as political losses, he added. 

Veteran journalist and Editor Publications Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Hussain Naqi emphasised the need to pursue sensible approach on nuclear issue by both Pakistan and India. However, he criticised Pakistan’s offer of a No-war Pact to China for being improper and untimely, adding that the Chinese leadership chalks out its policies 50 years in advance. “Pakistan should not cherish any delusion and accept ground realities as per which countries in the modern world build relations on rational and economic basis,” he added. 

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