By MASOOD KHAN, JUBAIL
A sincere advice to neighbor
While addressing the joint session of the Pakistani Parliament on Dec. 19, Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao made a very relevant comment on Pakistan’s relationship. He mentioned of an age-old time-tried Chinese proverb that a nearby neighbor is better than a distant relative.
This is what China has adhered to itself and has been signaling Pakistan to follow suit. In the 1950s and 1960s, China used to have border disputes with almost every neighbor. It also went to war due to some of these disputes. But that was the China of the 1950s and 1960s. Today’s China has either resolved the border issues by resorting to a “give and take” strategy, or has put these disputes on the back burner. With this game plan, China has become the world’s economic engine and second largest economy. It has established impressive trade ties with all its neighbors — Pakistan, India, Russia, Taiwan, Vietnam etc. China has made headways in most of Africa and the Middle East, not by force but thanks to trade ties.
Therefore, despite the rhetoric of Pakistani politicians to provoke China to speak on the Kashmir issue, Wen chose not to mention this conflict at all during his speech at the Pakistani Parliament. Instead, he tried to convey the message that the Pakistani state shall be mature enough to decide whether to keep its vast population poor, uneducated and without proper health care at the expense of its dispute over Kashmir, or shall it put the Kashmir issue on the back burner and normalize its social, political and trade relationship with India. The Pakistani security establishment has always taken a stand against the normalization of economic ties with India while land disputes remain unresolved.
Both Pakistan and India won their independence in 1947. Since then, Pakistan has made Kashmir the single point agenda of its military and foreign policy while India moved on with economical growth. During these 60 years since independence, India has left Pakistan far behind on the economical, education and military fronts. It’s entering into nuclear cooperation with the US. The US president is looking for projects in India to create jobs for Americans, in return the US is promising India its support for a permanent seat at the UN Security Council. The Indian space program is planning to land on the moon in coming years. On the other side of the border, Pakistan is in the grip of its military establishment which has the final word on its foreign and security policies. To fulfill the self-imposed security obligations, a large chunk of budget is diverted to the military, leaving not much for education, health care and development. If China can benefit by keeping economic relations separate from border disputes, why can’t Pakistan do the same? But if the Pakistan government decides to go for this strategy, then what to do with the million strong army which has itself become an empire running the country to meet its expenses. What about the right-wing political and religious parties and their mouthpieces in the media, from where they will get the oxygen to live on?
A sincere advice to neighbor - Arab News
A sincere advice to neighbor
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