The leaders met in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People on Wednesday, the final day of Sharif’s two-day visit to China, his first since taking office in April. Xi said the two neighbors should boost cooperation in developing the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a $60 billion infrastructure project, as well as speed up work on the construction of the Gwadar port in Pakistan’s Balochistan province. according to Chinese state media. For his part, Sharif thanked Xi for China’s “invaluable help in Pakistan’s relief and rehabilitation work” after the recent floods, which have killed more than 1,700 people and affected an estimated 33 million. A statement released by his office said the leaders discussed various projects of “strategic importance”, including work on the CPEC and the construction of a railway line. Sharif said Pakistan was inspired by China’s socio-economic development and national determination for progress and prosperity, the statement added, noting that the prime minister extended an invitation to Xi to visit Pakistan, which was accepted. Later on Wednesday, Sharif also met his Chinese counterpart, Li Keqiang. The relationship between historic allies Pakistan and China has only strengthened over the past decade, a period in which Islamabad’s ties with Washington have gradually cooled.
Balanced approach
Muhammad Faisal, an Islamabad-based foreign policy analyst and close observer of Pakistan-China relations, said Sharif’s visit was an important indicator for Pakistan as it seeks to maintain a balanced approach in the face of escalating strategic competition between China and the United States. States that has a direct impact on the regional order in South Asia. He said he expected issues related to Afghanistan and India, which has emerged as Pakistan and China’s biggest regional rival, to top the agenda in the leaders’ talks. “Both Islamabad and Beijing have different concerns with these neighbors,” Faisal told Al Jazeera. “However, both are compelled to seek cooperation to enhance stability in the regional environment.” Andrew Small, author of the China-Pakistan Axis, says Islamabad has had to tread carefully while maintaining stable relations with both Beijing and Washington. “He is trying to reconcile deepening ties with China with the opportunity to restore relations with the US after withdrawing from Afghanistan, all in the context of intensifying Sino-US rivalry. Normally US-Pakistan and China-Pakistan relations have been able to coexist happily – now there are pressures from both sides,” he told Al Jazeera. Pakistan’s dependence on China for its economic and defense needs has increased over the years – but this has come at a cost. Pakistan owes nearly $30 billion – or 23 percent of its total foreign debt – to China. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken raised the issue during a meeting with Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto in September, urging Islamabad to discuss debt relief and payment restructuring with Beijing. “The visit comes at a time when Pakistan is facing serious economic challenges, compounded by the recent floods in the country. If Pakistan is able to achieve debt restructuring and deposit rollover guarantees, it could be a landmark of this visit,” Fazal ur Rahman, director of the Pakistan Institute of Chinese Studies at the University of Sargodha, told Al Jazeera. Small also said the debt issue will be closely watched in the US. “The real question in Washington [is] on whether Pakistan will fix some of its debt issues directly with China or wait for other actors to do the heavy lifting,” he added.
Security incidents
China’s growing presence in Pakistan has coincided with an increase in the number of attacks against Chinese nationals and facilities, especially in the restive southern region of the country. Many of the Chinese infrastructure projects are located in the resource-rich Balochistan province, which is also Pakistan’s poorest region and home to a long-running armed campaign by militants. Three Chinese nationals were killed in a suicide attack in Karachi in April. Pakistan’s largest city saw another attack in September, in which three more Chinese-Pakistani citizens, who worked as dentists and had lived in the country for decades, were killed. Rahman said a stable and secure Pakistan was in China’s strategic and regional interests. “However, we should bear in mind that Pakistan will go to elections, so the Chinese may not agree to any long-term commitments with the establishment,” he added. Small noted that China was “uncertain about the political landscape in Pakistan – and there is not much the visit can do on that front. “The Chinese government likes Shehbaz Sharif and this government in general, but they will wait to see if things settle down before making any really significant new commitments.”
