​SAARC, BRI feature in Pakistani PM's Nepal visit

By Ritu Raj Subedi
0 Comment(s)Print E-mail China.org.cn, March 15, 2018
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Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi [File photo]


Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi's visit to Nepal on March 5-6 has created geopolitical waves. Abbasi sought Nepal's support in an array of regional affairs at a time when India and the U.S. are trying to push it to the wall. 


Pakistani PM's trip to Nepal appears to be dramatic and sudden but it took place at an opportune moment. It coincided with the formation of the strong communist government under the CPN-UML chair KP Sharma Oli.


Interestingly, Abbasi and Oli share some sort of commonality – both are "nationalist" prime ministers standing up to the global and regional hegemons respectively. And both see China as a reliable friend which helps their countries in the time of trouble.


Publicly, Abbasi landed in Kathmandu to congratulate Oli on his election to the premiership after Nepal became a secular, federal and republican state. It is indeed a unique moment in diplomacy. Nevertheless, the Pakistani PM came for other serious diplomatic missions. He urged his Nepali counterpart to play a constructive role in reviving the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), which has become dysfunctional owing to the rivalry between India and Pakistan. Its 19th Summit, scheduled to be held in Pakistan in 2016, was postponed after India unilaterally decided to stay out of it, citing an attack at its army base in Uri of Jammu and Kashmir.


It has been widely perceived that SAARC has become a headache for India as it includes both of its friends and foes. India is blamed for weakening SAARC by promoting sub-regional forums, such as the Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal (BBIN) Initiative and the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC).


Against this backdrop, Pakistan wants to activate SAARC so as to enhance its own diplomatic credentials and prove its mettle as a regional player. Nepal is currently the chair of SAARC and positive about Pakistan's request to give momentum to the stalled SAARC process. It is not helpful that bilateral tension has struck down the SAARC which holds immense potential to end poverty, underdevelopment and the infrastructural deficit in the region.


There is another reason why India is reluctant to breathe life into the moribund SAARC. Nepal and Pakistan want China to also join the cash-strapped regional forum to evolve it on par with other regional organizations, such as ASEAN. This is indeed a distasteful proposal for India that is fearful of China's growing clout across the region.


Australian Financial Review has recently reported that India is pushing for an alternative to counter China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) through the creation of another mechanism involving the U.S., Japan, India and Australia.


Endorsed by the United Nations, the BRI seeks to connect Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa with massive investment in infrastructure development. Pakistan and Nepal stand to benefit from the project of the century. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a model BRI venture, has begun to yield results in the form of job creation and infrastructure development across coastlines. And Pakistani PM shared CPEC's success story, while urging Oli to be proactive to take advantage from the BRI during their bilateral meetings.


"The BRI is all about connectivity. It is basically China's push towards the West, and all the regional countries can connect into that. The opportunities are there and we just have to capitalize on that," Abbasi told the local English daily. He said that the CPEC provides efficient access to the sea for all of the Central Asian countries and to western China. "With that connectivity comes investments in power plants, highways, motorways, ports, airports, rail network, etc."


Nepal as a signatory to the BRI is eager to roll out projects to be constructed under the BRI funding. Nepal and Pakistan are not connected via geography but have been intimate friends since the establishment of their diplomatic ties in 1960. Thanks to the BRI, the two nations are set to be connected through CPEC, which open new areas of cooperation, connectivity, trade and investment between them. 


Meanwhile, a section of the Indian media had negatively reported Abbasi's visit to Nepal. They characterized it as an attempt to create an "axis of Nepal, Pakistan and China" to corner India in the subcontinent. Nepal believes in the Panchsheel (five principles of peaceful coexistence) and has refrained itself from any zero-sum game that pits one neighbor against another.  


In Nepali political circles, the Pak PM's trip has, however, been described as diplomatic efforts to neutralize India's interventionist policy towards its small neighbor.


"Nepal's relations with China and Pakistan carry great significance to balance India's expansionist and interventionist policy towards Nepal. In this context, our party sees Abbasi's visit as highly positive and meaningful for Nepal as this greatly encourages it to defend her sovereignty, integrity and nationality," said Communist Party of Nepal-Masal in a press statement.


Ritu Raj Subedi is an associate editor of The Rising Nepal.


Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.

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