After Docking Ship In Lanka, China Wants To Send Troops To Pak: Report

 

China has been keen to expand its influence to central Asia through the Pakistan-Afghanistan route & has made strategic investments in the two nations.

Islamabad: After making significant investments in the conflict-prone Pakistan-Afghanistan region as part of its hugely ambitious Belt and Road Initiative, China plans to protect its interests in both countries by deploying its own forces at specially created bases. diplomatic resources.

China is seeking to extend its influence into Central Asia via the Pakistan-Afghanistan route and has made strategic investments in these two countries.

A Chinese ship with satellite and intercontinental missile tracking capabilities docked at Sri Lanka's Hambantota port on Tuesday morning amid spying concerns expressed by India.

Pakistan, where according to some estimates Chinese investment has exceeded 60 billion USD, is largely dependent on China not only for financial but also for military and diplomatic support.

With a huge power imbalance in its favor, China began pressuring Pakistan to allow the construction of bases to house its armed personnel.

However, Afghanistan, now ruled by the Taliban, has not yet met the expectations of both China and Pakistan in many respects.

Top diplomatic and security sources in Islamabad, who requested anonymity for this report, believe China's People's Liberation Army is working on a wartime scale to establish military bases in Afghanistan and Pakistan for what they say are smoother operations and expansion of its Belt and Road Initiative. trail. (BRI).

According to a diplomatic source, Chinese Ambassador Nong Rong met Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto and Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa in this regard.

Ambassador Rong has not been in Pakistan since the end of March 2022 this year, he arrived in the country only recently.

However, the meeting where he called for the establishment of forward posts for Chinese forces was perhaps Ambassador Rong's first formal meeting with the new government and state representatives.

The Chinese ambassador constantly insists on the safety of Chinese projects and the safety of its citizens, the source informed.

China has already requested security bases in Gwadar as well as the use of Gwadar International Airport for its fighter jets.

The facility, which can be used for military purposes, will soon be commissioned as evidenced by its fencing, another top source revealed.

However, this issue has its sensitive dimensions as the Pakistani people may not be comfortable with a strong Chinese military presence in the country.

There have been concerns that the country is already in a situation similar to a debt trap, and that China's tactics may not be better than colonies.

Both China and Pakistan have their own concerns in Afghanistan. After the Taliban took power, both Pakistan and China expected unquestioning cooperation from the landlocked state. However, this was not fully fulfilled.

One of the main demands of the Pakistanis was that they wanted to keep Indians out of Afghanistan. But the Kandahar-based Taliban doesn't like Pakistan too much to allow it to fire.

The Taliban is interested in an independent foreign policy, including relations with India. Even Mullah Yaqub, the Taliban's defense minister, suggested military training in India.

However, this was not the only area where Pakistan expected the new Afghan government to accede to its wishes.

The Taliban, and particularly Haqqani-affiliated groups, were expected to facilitate the destruction of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan and hand over wanted militants to the Pakistani military.

The hacks soon made it clear that they would not comply. This is because the Kandahars and some of the TTP leaders shared the same background. Left with no choice, the Pakistan Army had to engage in complex ceasefire talks with the TTP.

The new Afghan government was also to recognize the Durand Line as an international border. Pakistan had built a wire fence at great expense in recent years, but within weeks the Taliban and the TTP cut the wire and claimed Pakistan's FATA region.

According to the source, Pakistan's chief of army staff, General Bajwa, already harbored fears of a Taliban takeover, but was opposed by his intelligence chief, Faiz Hamid, and powerful corps commanders.

China is also watching developments in Afghanistan with some concern. The Chinese have their own worries. The Taliban and Haqqani show no interest in handing over the Uyghur rebels to the Chinese authorities.

China also does not consider them serious about developing its BRI network in Afghanistan. China wants access to Central Asia and Europe through CPEC and Afghanistan, a diplomatic source said.

There are fears in Beijing that Uighur extremists may have started working with Baloch groups and the TTP to undermine the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

There have been a number of attacks targeting Chinese citizens in Pakistan, including a bomb blast in Quetta in April 2021 that narrowly missed the Chinese ambassador.

A year later, a Baluchi suicide bomber killed three Chinese citizens near the Confucius Institute in Karachi. It was precisely these incidents that led to renewed Chinese pressure to deploy its own security forces in Pakistan – a demand that Pakistan has repeatedly rejected.

According to sources, China wants to expand its strategic role in Pakistan by deploying its own security personnel to protect its projects and citizens there.

The source also said that China is interested in investing in Afghanistan and wants to expand its BRI project, so Beijing needs to secure Pakistan and Afghanistan with its military bases.

China reminded Pakistan of its history of providing bases to America and other countries during the Cold War. Currently, China is investing heavily in Pakistan and the demand for base and security arrangements is becoming serious as time goes by.

Pakistan has to pay 300 billion Pakistani rupees to Chinese firms and the companies have already threatened Pakistan to shut down the power plants if the outstanding dues are not settled, according to sources.

Bostan Industrial Zone, Gwadar Port, Special Zone-I and Zone-II; some patrol units on the western direction of CPEC covering Awaran, Khuzdar, Hoshab and Turbat areas; Mohmand Marble City (SEZ) near Mohmand Agency and Sost Dry-Port & Moqpondass Special Economic Zone in Gilgit-Baltistan are major Chinese projects running in Pakistan.

On the one hand, Pakistan is trapped in China's diplomacy in a debt trap, on the other hand, the Chinese administration constantly reminds them that it does not trust the Pakistani security apparatus.

Pakistan does not want to annoy China, from which it repeatedly takes financial aid. Him