CPEC to enhance Pakistan’s regional influence, synergize economy

BEIJING: After cooperating to deal with the pandemic, Pakistan and China should also accelerate the building of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship project of the Belt and Road Initiative.

The 10th Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) meeting of CPEC has been held and a new IT working group has been established, which will bolster CPEC, read a statement issued on Sunday.

The success of CPEC will effectively enhance Pakistan’s comprehensive national strength and international status, according to an article published by Global Times, an English daily in China.

The key to the success of CPEC is that Pakistan needs to form its own industrial advantages through reform and development that can provide a safer environment for the construction of CPEC.

It said, in recent years, the global and regional structure has undergone major changes. At present, the change of strategic situations in South Asia and its neighbouring regions is mainly reflected in the Afghan issue.

The US hastily withdrew its troops from Afghanistan and the Afghan Taliban quickly took over Kabul. Many strategists and media organisations in the West and India have linked the Afghan Taliban’s seizure of power with China-US relations, China-India relations and India-Pakistan relations.

They believe that the successful seizure of power by the Afghan Taliban is a success of China and Pakistan, but a strategic failure of some countries including India.

India also has the ambition to achieve its goal of becoming a global power through the Indo-Pacific strategy and attempts to implement Hindu nationalist policies at home and in the region.

“India has long been marginalised on the Afghan issue. If India is to play a role in Afghanistan, it is unlikely to play a positive one. India is likely to use its intelligence agencies and some forces cultivated in Afghanistan and its surrounding areas in the past more than 20 years to undermine and disrupt the stability of Afghanistan. This is unfavourable to Afghanistan and its close neighbours, including China and Pakistan,” the article stated.

As all-weather strategic partners, China and Pakistan must work together to maintain and promote regional security and stability.

First of all, China and Pakistan must cooperate closely on the Afghan issue to persuade the Afghan Taliban to establish an open and inclusive government and implement a moderate domestic and foreign policy, it read.

At present, the verbal expression of the Afghan Taliban is very different from that in the past, but we do not know what specific policies they will champion in the future, it added.

The Afghan Taliban are now facing a series of severe challenges. Firstly, the unity of the Afghan Taliban itself; secondly, whether the Afghan Taliban can establish an open and inclusive government; Thirdly, food shortage is likely to lead to humanitarian disasters and refugees; Fourthly, they hope to win the recognition and assistance of the international community, but at the same time, they also face the hatred, blockade, sanctions and even subversion of some hostile forces in the world.

China, Pakistan, Russia and Iran all hope that the Afghan Taliban can establish an open and inclusive regime so that all ethnic groups and parties in Afghanistan can have their own representatives, which is the key for the Afghan Taliban to win domestic and international support.

China does not want Afghanistan to fall into turmoil again due to domestic political struggle that always leads to humanitarian crises, nor does China want Afghanistan to become a shelter for Eastern Turkistan forces such as the ETIM.

China does not want Afghanistan to become a source of regional unrest due to the excessive intervention of some external forces, affecting the security of CPEC.

Therefore, on the issue of Afghanistan, China and Pakistan should coordinate with Russia, Iran and Central Asian countries. These countries together should warn Europe of a possible refugee crisis and put pressure on the US, India and some European countries to take responsible actions to provide humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, the article maintained.

While strengthening strategic and security coordination against terrorist supporters, China and Pakistan should work with countries inside and outside the region to promote the construction of an open, inclusive, democratic and equal regional governance structure and security structure, it concluded.