By Ghulam Murtaza
Ministry of Commerce is doing a great job of finding out the areas for inviting Chinese investors and removing bottlenecks.
Prime Minister Imran Khan is scheduled to visit the Beijing Winter Olympic Ceremony next on February 3, 2022. The Beijing Olympics is programmed from 4-13 February 2022 amid diplomatic boycott by various European countries led by the US & United Kingdom on alleged human rights abuse in China.
Russian President, Vladimir Putin, is also believed to be there, and a very important meeting between the trio may upset some countries. This meeting will have all the potential to change the regional geopolitical landscape. Gwadar is the treasure for which Russia got into pieces; the USA exhausted. Russia is still desperate to be a stockholder of this game-changer One Road one Initiative (OBOR).
At this stage, our security agencies look congruent to give the clearance to Russia. Time has changed to reset orders, alignments, preferences, and economic interests. Russia may spot on Pasni for independent logistics. Afghanistan has, mostly, cleared off from the elements that used to be stepping stones on the way to Russia. Pakistan and Russia are already in liaison with each other on Afghanistan and have developed a basic understanding of a variety of issues. Heads of the Governments of both the countries have already had two telephonic conversations. This meeting looks leveling the pave of the visit of Mr. Putin to Pakistan soon.
But this rosy picture cannot be painted unless Pakistan is bailed-out financially-this time, the Chinese and Russia may sense it. Khan’s three years have had cold relations with China, primarily on CPEC. The Imran Khan’s Government wanted to revisit some agreements made during the last two regimes of Zardari and Nawaz being favoring China. The Commerce advisor to Prime Minster Mr. Razzak Daowood had blasted a statement that the CPEC had been racked for a certain period when Khan assumed his office.
Later, the Commerce Adviser to PM tried to offset the after-affects. But the arrow, once shot, does not come back. Since then, cold relations between these two time-tested friends have severely affected the mega project. The progress on the CPEC projects slowed down. The killing of 10 citizens of China on the Dasu Hydroelectric Power project compounded the gravity. The Chinese conveyed a strong message to Pakistan that the security of its workers could not be compromised. After the incident, Pakistan tightened the security protocols to address the Chinese concerns and compensated the families of victims with $US 11.6 Million support.
China pretended to shift its stakes to Iran over Gwadar during this uncertainty. But the calculations and huge margins did not allow China to switch; ours knew it!
The economy of Pakistan grounded during the last three years. The Khan’s government is nearing elections with an empty basket; it was imperative to hit some big shots in final overs to remain in the game. The visit to China looks like one of them. Economic mussels kept China quiet without showing any exasperation during this indecisive period. Still, the hand of China is on the upper side. Pakistan could not un-nerve China to a bargaining position over some un-settled issues. Prime Minister Imran Khan believed to convey to the Chinese counterpart that Pakistan will make all efforts to materialize the benefits associated with CPEC; hence the CPEC would be geared up by removing all impediments.
Khan Government looks to own the agreements signed with China after the three years’ tug. PM’s visit is likely to mainly focus on CPEC, expansion of FTA, investment by Chines companies, relationships with India, and the role of the United States in the region. However, CPEC will remain the core of this visit. By this time, ten CPEC projects have been completed, six are under completion, and five are under consideration. Coming to the focal point of CPEC, Gwadar, the situation is still in grey. Even the 19 KM Eastern expressway could not be finished to link the seaport to Coastal Highway near Surbandar. The old airport road of Gwadar is still being used for heavy cargo. Eastern and Western routes of CPEC are still to be completed. Gwadar International Airport and 300MW Coal-Fired Power Project are also crawling. Chinese existing investors demanded high-level parlays before the visit of Imran Khan. These exasperated investors want the ease of procedural bottlenecks and security issues. Enthused preparations for this very significant visit are on the way.
Ministry of Commerce is doing a great job of finding out the areas for inviting Chinese investors and removing bottlenecks. They got the trade bodies on board for their in-puts to make this visit more productive. Security, pending payment of IPPs, cooperation in agriculture, industry, trade, digital economy, green activities, logistics, health, the circular trap of existing Chinese investors, digital economy, CPEC, and regional politics are the joint interests of both in Pakistan. At the 10th meeting of the Joint Cooperation Committee’s meeting, the two sides decided on joint working on the information technology industry, opening up the new venues for cooperation in this sector.
Geo-strategic issues always stand at the core of any discussion with Chinese friends. The army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa also called on the Prime Minister for a briefing attended by many senior ministers and officials, including the foreign minister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi. Meanwhile, the army chief also separately met Prime Minister Khan.
This could be a landmark visit to remove the deadlocks at a very critical time, especially for Imran Khan’s government that desperately needs economic oxygen. If the stalemate persists, the gulf between these two old and gold friends will widen. On the other side, we must be ready to face covert reactions from Pakistan’s anti-forces. The USA might have argued with Pakistan to be in line with winter Olympic boycotting countries, but Pakistan looks to sustain the pressure of the world’s operators.
The author is the Secretary-General PAAPAM. Previously, he has been the Secretary-General TMA(NC), BKOAP and Secretary GBDA.
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