China’s ‘Belt and Road’ plan takes a military turn in Pakistan
US President Donald Trump started the year suspending billions of dollars of security aid to Pakistan. This move was expected to scare the Pakistan military into cooperating with the US. But Pakistan already had a replacement sponsor lined up- China with its Belt and Road plan.
China’s ‘Belt and Road’ plan takes a military turn in Pakistan
Just two weeks later, the Pakistani Air Force and Chinese officials were putting the final touches on a secret proposal. This proposal was to expand Pakistan’s building of Chinese military jets, weapons and other hardware. The confidential plan would also deepen the cooperation between the two countries in space. This is a frontier the Pentagon recently said Beijing was trying to militarize.
All those military projects were designed as part of China’s Belt and Road initiative. This is a $ 1 trillion chain of infrastructure development programs. It stretches across some 70 countries that are built and financed Beijing.
Chinese officials have repeatedly said that the Belt and Road is a purely economic initiative with peaceful intent. But, with its plan for Pakistan, China is, for the first time, tying a Belt and Road proposal to its military ambitions. This has confirmed the concerns of a host of nations who suspected the infrastructure initiative is really about China projecting armed might.
Pakistan is a strategically-located and nuclear-armed neighbour to China. Thus, it has been the leading example of how the Chinese projects are being used to give Beijing both favour and leverage among its clients.
Since the beginning of the Belt and Road initiative in 2013, Pakistan has been the program’s flagship site. Some $ 62 billion in projects have been planned in the so-called CHina-Pakistan Economic Corridor. In this process, China has lent more and more money to Pakistan in its hour of need, pulling the countries closer.
This is quite the disturbing news for India because it means that both its neighbors are strengthening each other.
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