May 24 – China’s “good neighbor” Pakistan recently confirmed to the Financial Times (FT) that it has requested China to build a naval base at its China-financed southwestern port of Gwadar and hopes to see the Chinese navy maintaining a regular presence there.
Pakistan’s Defense Minister Chaudhary Ahmed Mukhtar said that China had heard Pakistan’s offer during Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani’s China visit last week. The visit, which mainly aimed at strengthening the 60-year-long alliance between the two countries, shortly followed the killing of Osama bin Laden which has increased tension between Pakistan and the United States.
A senior Pakistani official described the naval base as “something” that will “allow Chinese vessels to regularly visit in (the) future and also use the place for repair and maintenance of their fleet in the (Indian Ocean region),” according to an FT report.
The naval base proposal has made both India and the United States nervous. Christopher Yung, a senior researcher at the National Defense University in Washington, warns the possibility that China may start having more and more access to overseas naval bases is an indication that the country intends to expand its military influence globally.
The U.S. Congress has also reacted strongly to the promises of mutual support between China and Pakistan with legislators calling for the U.S. government to reconsider the US$3 billion in aid it provides Pakistan every year.
With no direct public response to Pakistan’s offer, China is still trying to show a friendly face to its other Asian neighbors and the United States, emphasizing that China’s peaceful rise will only be beneficial to the world rather than imposing a new threat.
However, many western analysts believe Beijing’s long-term interests – especially its need for more energy in the Middle East and increasing its military deterrence worldwide – give China every reason to desire an out-of-country naval base of its own. The base will allow China’s military ships and submarines to conduct regular patrols and exercises in the Arabian Sea to protect the increasing Chinese oil tankers in the region; it will also provide China’s anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden with perfect port access, through which it can restock daily necessities and swap staff as well as offer maintenance.
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Pakistan is important to China due to five basic but compelling reasons in the mentioned priorities
1. China wants an alternate access route to Indian Ocean for its trade and energy supply with Gulf and Africa. They are already working on other route via Central Asia to Europe. They want to reduce their significantly high dependencies on sea (especially Indian Ocean)
2. It wants a Navel base or at least a listening post to monitor Indian as well as US Navy in Indian ocean.
3. Engaging Pakistan by promoting its Defense & Nuclear capabilities in order to irritate India and its defense policy makers. (In short Pakistan is an Israel of China)
4. Engaging with Pakistan at all level will help China to put a tap on Islamic militancy reaching inside China via Pakistan or its supported groups.
5. Pakistan’s policy makers believe that post US (likely to be 2014) Pakistan supported Taliban will remain strong and will recapture Kabul. Pakistan will establish a friendly and influential relationship with Afghan. This will help China to engage with Afghanistan and tap its huge mineral wealth.
From Pakistan’s point of view, China is like another God father who is going to take care of her once US is out of the relationship (likely after 2014) and from Afghanistan, thus no Nato supply lines, no blackmailing for money.
In such situation, they need money aid (from China) to keep floating their economy. Also China is already their largest arm supplier as in future US is not going to provide any modern weaponry to Pakistan.
Also, Pakistan believes that US is a diminishing power and China is a rising power, thus jumping into Chinese ship is better for its future. Also China is now/will be only country to support Pakistan in future in world forums where Pakistan finds itself alone.
Agreed, Girish. To run the port successfully, the Chinese and the Pakistanis would have to secure the road and air access as well. I pesume this is Pakistan’s intention to get Chinar to help stabilize the Pakistan both economically and militarily. China should not be hesitant to take up the Pakistani offer.
After all look at the USA now putting bases and missile launchers in the former Soviet bloc and Romania being the latest case. Russia should perhaps re-establish the good ties she had with Cuba and station missiles there. Maybe Cubacould also ask China to establish a naval base there. That way Cuba may gain some protection from predatory American officials and businesses when their current leaders pass away.
This is not good on the pakistan’s part.This will disrupt the power balance between india and china.Probably china still dreams of gaining north east regions of india.
@vanita
Chinese gaining north east region of India is impractical now. Changes of such thing happening will arise only if India rather becoming Superpower, it perished into darkness in next 50 years (which is highly unlikely) and also China surviving its political transformation from current communist regions to a democratic society). If China is indeed very much interested to gain the territory which it claims, it would have done it by now (by force). Waiting for future for a strike to gain it is senseless as India is no more a weak nation as its has a credible deterrence against China in terms of militarily/ economically or even gaining support from international community at the time of China waging war against India.
Chinese knew that attacking India (a big and powerful nation) for Arunachal Pardesh (which is no big land it terms of strategic interest) will put a stamp that it will surly use the force against smaller and weaker nations like Vietnam, Philippines etc to settle their terroritoal dispute.
That will actually unite everyone against China. Well this is somehow happening too due to assertive behavior of PLA at border areas and disputed islands in yellow sea.
Chinese have so far only settled border disputed with central Asian nations and Russia due to their energy supply and trade supply line Chinese intend to establish.
Well as the day’s are passing, the changes of inflecting war on India is getting remote.
On practical ground, Chinese and Indian government are not in a positions to actually take the hard decisions and thus rather deferring it to the future with common understanding of maintaining the peaceful borders.
In future, the only decisions which will come out is that the Chinese occupied Indian regions in J&K will remain with China and China will withdrew its claim over Indian terrority of North East.
Current border will be the final border with both nations keeping their dignity intact.
@ All..
Watever the other countries Including pakistan is looking for from china, its a total disaster waiting to happen for 2 main reasons..
1) China is a country and always be a country looking for its edge in military of economy. It has many permanent enemies including India to Philipiness but no permanent friend.
2) China is a communist regime. It dosent have any intrest of Pakistan being a muslim country or India being a good neighbour. All it cares is what it can do and what it should do. And if the world is lucky, this communist regim will fall down like all non-democratic systems have went down in history. In thas case I doudt even china has the potential to overtake US as a world power or sustain a growth that will keep India always as the 2nd fastest growing economy than allowing India to pass by.
Both are practical and have high probablility. Anyways, India is safe and sound and I would never doudt china, how large it is, risk a fight with India, a battle that could trigger off a Third World War in every side, Nuclear and in Number!
Bottom line..Real pain in End-ians Ass…..