StormShadow
SENIOR MEMBER
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2011
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On August 1, China accused Pakistan of enabling citizens of Uighur Muslim origin in its western province of Xinjiang to get training in terror. And only last May China had extolled Pakistan and had said that the world was unfair to the Islamabad regime. Pakistan then was under worldwide condemnation for giving protection to Osama bin Laden soon after US commandos shot him dead in Abbottabad.
In the wake of worldwide criticism of Pakistan and its Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilanis visit to Beijing, China had offered 50 fighter jets to friend Pakistan. Not only that, Beijing had also warned the US not to do another Abbottabad. Several Chinese commentators have claimed that Pakistan is the only nation that China can trust in an Asia where Beijing is encircled by US allies including India.
It is no longer a secret that powerful sections of the Pakistani establishment are hand-in-glove with these terror organisations and, in fact, nurture them as an instrument of Pakistans security and global perspective. This should be considered a warning to all the world that in Pakistan, whatever be the official policy, the reality is that Islamist jihadis are firmly entrenched and their interests take precedence over every other consideration.
After the US punishment of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan following the Al-Qaeda operation on 9/11, several jihadi activists in Afghanistan were detained first by the US forces and then released. Most of them took refuge in Pakistan. Interrogation reports on them have now been released by WikiLeaks. They reveal how Pakistani terrorists were recruiting from these Chinese Islamist nationals since 2001 and were training them to cause terror activities in the Xinjiang province of China.
If that is the situation, it is somewhat puzzling that the Chinese now have come out publicly about the Pakistani terror machine reaching out to the ethnically troubled western province. One reason could be that the Chinese now believe that the Islamist ideology could have a strong influence in that area with its Muslim majority. It is now known that a section of the Pakistan army had planned a coup in Islamabad in collusion with the jihadi organisations but the army put it down with the arrest of a number of its lower level officers involved in the conspiracy over the head of the top generals.
How Pakistans longterm other ally, the US, viewed the reliability of the Pakistani establishment is clear from the recent revelation. When Washington considered asking the Pakistan government to cooperate with it for the capture of Osama bin Laden after he was spotted in Abbottabad, President Obama struck it down as there was a real lack of confidence that the Pakistanis would keep this secret for more than a nano-second, as has been revealed by the New Yorker report on the anti-bin Laden operation details.
It is possible that Beijing too might have begun to have second thoughts about trusting Pakistan beyond a limit. For China, however, Pakistan continues to offer a willing subordinate to join with it to achieve their common aim of disrupting Indian interests in the region. Hence Beijing would not give up on Islamabad.
In our South Block, there should be a realisation that the longterm aims of Pakistan perclude any attempt at lasting peace in the subcontinent so long as that country is in the strong grip of Islamist jihadis. In New Delhi, the government often bends backward to accommodate Pakistan, justifying such a move with the plea that it is in Indias interest to support the civilian government in Pakistan.
But this is chasing the proverbial mirage. For all practical purposes, it is a combine of the jihadi elements and the army that decide what the civilian government should do even though sometimes the army acts against selected jihadi organisations when there is a conflict of interest between the two. Beijing itself is getting increasingly aware of the volatility in Islamabad. Better late than never.
Beijing feels the pinch of Pakistan
In the wake of worldwide criticism of Pakistan and its Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilanis visit to Beijing, China had offered 50 fighter jets to friend Pakistan. Not only that, Beijing had also warned the US not to do another Abbottabad. Several Chinese commentators have claimed that Pakistan is the only nation that China can trust in an Asia where Beijing is encircled by US allies including India.
It is no longer a secret that powerful sections of the Pakistani establishment are hand-in-glove with these terror organisations and, in fact, nurture them as an instrument of Pakistans security and global perspective. This should be considered a warning to all the world that in Pakistan, whatever be the official policy, the reality is that Islamist jihadis are firmly entrenched and their interests take precedence over every other consideration.
After the US punishment of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan following the Al-Qaeda operation on 9/11, several jihadi activists in Afghanistan were detained first by the US forces and then released. Most of them took refuge in Pakistan. Interrogation reports on them have now been released by WikiLeaks. They reveal how Pakistani terrorists were recruiting from these Chinese Islamist nationals since 2001 and were training them to cause terror activities in the Xinjiang province of China.
If that is the situation, it is somewhat puzzling that the Chinese now have come out publicly about the Pakistani terror machine reaching out to the ethnically troubled western province. One reason could be that the Chinese now believe that the Islamist ideology could have a strong influence in that area with its Muslim majority. It is now known that a section of the Pakistan army had planned a coup in Islamabad in collusion with the jihadi organisations but the army put it down with the arrest of a number of its lower level officers involved in the conspiracy over the head of the top generals.
How Pakistans longterm other ally, the US, viewed the reliability of the Pakistani establishment is clear from the recent revelation. When Washington considered asking the Pakistan government to cooperate with it for the capture of Osama bin Laden after he was spotted in Abbottabad, President Obama struck it down as there was a real lack of confidence that the Pakistanis would keep this secret for more than a nano-second, as has been revealed by the New Yorker report on the anti-bin Laden operation details.
It is possible that Beijing too might have begun to have second thoughts about trusting Pakistan beyond a limit. For China, however, Pakistan continues to offer a willing subordinate to join with it to achieve their common aim of disrupting Indian interests in the region. Hence Beijing would not give up on Islamabad.
In our South Block, there should be a realisation that the longterm aims of Pakistan perclude any attempt at lasting peace in the subcontinent so long as that country is in the strong grip of Islamist jihadis. In New Delhi, the government often bends backward to accommodate Pakistan, justifying such a move with the plea that it is in Indias interest to support the civilian government in Pakistan.
But this is chasing the proverbial mirage. For all practical purposes, it is a combine of the jihadi elements and the army that decide what the civilian government should do even though sometimes the army acts against selected jihadi organisations when there is a conflict of interest between the two. Beijing itself is getting increasingly aware of the volatility in Islamabad. Better late than never.
Beijing feels the pinch of Pakistan
