Getting Mushy in Beijing

Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf?s five-day visit to China would not have been remarkable weren?t it for the fact that it comes on the eve of US President George W. Bush?s visit early next month.

Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf’s five-day visit to China would not have been remarkable weren’t it for the fact that it comes on the eve of US President George W. Bush’s visit early next month. The focus of General Musharraf’s visit is reportedly on discussing regional security and military links with the Chinese leadership. But with the recent killing of three Chinese engineers in Pakistan’s Balochistan province casting a shadow, President Musharraf could spend the better part of his visit reassuring Chinese leaders of his commitment to strengthening ties. Only then can he discuss what’s perhaps a more important issue for Pakistan: that of nuclear cooperation with China. As Islamabad’s biggest weapons supplier, Beijing is helping Pakistan to build a second nuclear power plant.

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After several unsuccessful attempts, General Musharraf must be keen on an agreement with Beijing this time round. But this could be tricky. Pakistan cannot expect its strong military relationship with China, the cornerstone of its strategic policies for over 40 years, to be frozen in time. Successive military regimes in Islamabad have banked on Beijing’s willingness to help build nuclear weapons and missiles. China facilitated its emergence as a nuclear weapons power. China’s tolerance of Pakistan’s State-sponsored jehad also served mutual interests of both countries, with Beijing using Pakistan as a pressure point against the West and Islamabad using its delinquencies as bargaining chips with Washington. Post-9/11, however, China has obviously new priorities, becoming more balanced even on issues like Kashmir.

Growing stakes in the marketplace prompt Beijing to nudge its old communist allies in Pyongyang towards nuclear disarmament talks. Pakistan has yet to shrug off criticism of A.Q. Khan’s sale of nuclear secrets to Libya, North Korea and Iran. So China may think twice before gifting Islamabad anymore nuclear hardware. The issue remains an albatross hung around Islamabad’s neck.