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Upset Over Denial Of US ‘Aid’, Pakistan Cosies Up With China
Pakistan calls China an ‘Iron Brother’, but does the latter feel so?
In a veiled snub to its greatest benefactor so far, the Pakistani government headed by former cricketer Imran Khan will host China’s State Councillor and Foreign Affairs Minister Wang Yi this week in Islamabad, says a report in The Tribune.
Pakistani sources are believed to have told the newspaper that Wang is likely to be in Islamabad from 7 to 9 September. The visit will be immediately after the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wraps up his first stopover in the country.
Pompeo, who will soon be in India for discussions with counterparts Nirmala Sitharaman, and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, along with Defense Secretary Jim Matis, will discuss US’ Af-Pak strategy, which now proposes a greater role for India.
The yet-to-be announced visit of Wang Yi is being seen as a veiled snub to the Trump regime for cancelling ‘aid’ worth USD 300 million to Pakistan. The other term used for these funds is Coalition Support Funds (CSF). The Trump administration withdrew the financial support promised as it felt Pakistan had done little to combat terrorism on its soil, which in turn was harming US interests.
Pakistan is now throwing tantrums over the fund withdrawal by claiming that the money promised actually ‘belonged’ to Pakistan and was not ‘aid’. Mushahid Husain, Head of Foreign Affairs Committee in the Pakistani Senate, termed the move an American “sop to India”.
The US administration had earlier this year cancelled USD 500 million in CSF towards Pakistan for its failure to come down hard on terror outfits undermining American interests in the region.
For China, however, this situation is perfect as it works in favour of its expansionist programme. Pakistan, like many other countries in the neighbourhood, is in deep debt, and is looking to China for a ‘bailout’. China, while handing out ‘bailouts’, surreptitiously works towards achieving territorial control over the donee by way of predatory financing whose end is absolute political and financial emasculation.
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