UK
CPEC- a relation of dependence Dr Shabir Choudhry
Despite lofty claims and extremely high praises, trade between Pakistan and China is still hovering around $ 20 billion US dollars. As pointed above, China’s trade with India is around $85 billion. This shows three things:
1/ Trade can continue despite outstanding disputes.
2/ India is China’s major trading partner.
3/ China would not like to harm its national interest – trade with India for the sake of Pakistan.
Pakistan needs to care for its national interests, which is not best served by becoming a proxy of other countries; or by constant confrontation with its neighbours. It is high time that the Pakistani policy makers examine their policies; and abandon old policies of confrontation.
The CPEC may give some infrastructure and provide dams and power supply to Pakistan, but in the long run, it will prove to be catastrophic for Pakistan. The Pakistani economy does not have the capacity to pay back the CPEC debts and meet other outstanding financial commitments.
In any case, the CPEC is a project of two unequal partners. Pakistan will always be a junior partner parading on the instructions and demands of the senior partner. With time, the Pakistani people and the ruling elite will understand that they are in a quagmire, from which it will become difficult to escape without some external help.
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