Pakistan is going through a very difficult phase again with a begging bowl in hand. Dr Shabir Choudhry.

 

Pakistan is going through a very difficult phase again with a begging bowl in hand. Dr Shabir Choudhry. 01 January 2022

As I am not permitted to go back to my village situated in Pakistani Administered Jammu and Kashmir, I phoned my relative to find out about my relatives, and other people in the village and in the area. After discussing family matters, I asked him about the political situation. He said, ‘Uncle situation is the same as it was 60 years ago.’

I did not understand him and asked him to explain what he meant. He said:

‘Sixty years ago, people were told that the country was going through very difficult phase, and the army needs support to defeat conspiracies of enemies of Islam and Pakistan. Now, in 2022, we are given the same sermon. Like the political and military leadership of today, the ruling elite of that time was also running to Washington and Beijing for support.’

He paused for a moment, and said, ‘What has changed since that time is that Pakistan lost East Pakistan, and the country is more divided, more unstable, more alienated internationally, weaker economically and carries intolerable debt burden.’

I agreed with his assessment of the situation in Pakistan. The future of Pakistan looks bleak, and the man who is supposed to be a Chief Executive of Pakistan is apparently more interested in personal vengeance and wealth accumulation.

However, one thing goes in his favour, the man has tremendous experience in fundraising. He is smart, persuasive and shrewd. In Pakistan there is a renowned welfare organisation called Edhi Foundation, which has seven decades of experience in collecting money from people and helping the poor.

Imran Khan, as the Prime Minister of Pakistan met Faisal Edhi, Head of the Edhi Foundation, and instead of providing funds for his brilliant work for the poor and the needy, managed to obtain a big amount of Rs 10 million from him.

This shows how good he is as a fundraiser. Since becoming Prime Minister of Pakistan, he has made good use of his fund-raising skills, and the begging bowl has never come back empty.

This week he is going to China with a multi-purpose visit. Apart from requesting more money from China he will also be requesting the Presidents of Russia and Kazakhstan.

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His target is to collect $3 billions from China, $1 billion from Russia and $1 billion from Kazakhstan. Despite his valuable experience, smartness and shrewdness, it is a difficult task to bag $5 billion. However, I am sure that Mr Khan will not come back empty handed, as China will provide more funds in order to protect their previous funding.

In addition to fund raising, Imran Khan will try to woo the Chinese to trust him with the China Pakistan Economic Corridor, which is in extensive care because of the Pakistani government’s lack of interest, irresponsibility and wrong policies.

Imran Khan is not going on a state visit to China. He is going there for the inauguration of the Winter Olympics, which is boycotted by many countries of the West. Imran Khan being a former sportsman, who had not ‘seen the Winter Olympics’ wanted to see that, and use the occasion to advance his political and economic agenda. This also suited the Chinese, as they will have a smart guest among other statesmen.

During the visit, Imran Khan will not have an opportunity to meet the Chinese President Xi, or other important Chinese leaders. His team is bending their backs to get an opportunity to have a photo session with President Xi. That also looks out of the window. The Chinese side said Imran Khan could be among others in a joint photo session.

This does not serve the interests of Imran Khan and his team. They wanted to send this message that Imran Khan is still an important person in the world. If the American President doesn’t want to talk or phone ‘great’ Imran Khan, that is his loss, as other important leaders like Putin and Xi Jinping value his worth.

Imran Khan and his team don’t give up that easily. After failing to get a meeting and a photo session with President Xi, now they are trying to persuade the Chinese to, at least, let him stand next to President Xi in the joint photo session.

It is sad that the Chinese do not understand the sensitivities of Pakistani politics, and political needs of Imran Khan. So far, the Chinese don’t appear to be in a mood to oblige Pakistan with this honour, because they know what Imran Khan and his government has done to the CPEC. Their view is that our protocol team will decide who will stand where and which line.

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Imran Khan will assure the Chinese that he will fully support the second phase of the CPEC with a new enthusiasm and determination. He and his team will try to persuade the Chinese that they should trust his wisdom, as he will personally oversee the CPEC projects, and ensure the implementation.

I am sure the Chinese are not that naïve to buy this at its face value. They may know that wherever Imran Khan has taken a personal interest in affairs of Pakistan and governance, he has made a mess of that magnitude that could not be corrected easily.

While Imran Khan will try to win over the Chinese with his charm, bluffs and maybe with a history lesson on history and culture of China or on wisdom
of Confucianism, his ‘boss’ will endeavour to win America's support for Pakistan.

Some Pakistani analysts express their surprise, as to why the country's two most powerful men are out of the country at the same time, and conducting their activities in two different countries which are opposing and competing with each other.

One view is that both countries have strong views on the CPEC and on the Belt and Road Initiative, and both are competing with each other in political, economic, arms and strategic fields. Pakistan wants to be friendly with both of them - it is like having a foot in each boat; and the ride is full of problems and hazards.

Some analysts are of the opinion that it is imperative for Pakistan to assure America that both countries have many things in common, and that their friendly relations must not be influenced because of relations of other countries.

Some Pakistani analysts even suggest that General Bajwa wanted to take Washington into confidence, as to what he and his team wants to do in Pakistan. By this they mean, future political discourse of Pakistan. In other words, what to do with this inept and hopeless government.

In addition, he wants to reassure Washington that the CPEC and relationship with Beijing will not jeopardise relations with America. Furthermore, he must emphasis

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that Islamabad will not be part of any agenda that can harm the American interests; or let the CPEC or Gwadar be used against America.

Some experts are of the opinion that one task of Imran Khan is to assure the Chinese that they will not take dictations from America or the International Monetary Fund to endanger the joint ventures of Beijing and Islamabad.

Beijing will be reluctant to trust the Pakistani government because of past lies, mistrust and let downs. For example, after the Dasu terrorism in which many Chinese died Pakistan said, bus tyre burst which resulted in accident. The Chinese did not agree with that, as they knew it was a terrorist attack, and they demanded compensation for the families of the deceased.

Apart from that, in certain contracts between China and Pakistan there were some secret agreements which must not be shared with any other country, or with any international organisation or made public. It is an open secret now that Pakistan, under pressure from the IMF and to obtain more funds Pakistan shared those secret details with the IMF.

In view of this, the political environment for both Imran Khan and General Bajwa will not be very comfortable. Despite all the odds, I believe both will not come back empty handed.
Writer is President Foreign Affairs Committee, United Kashmir People’s National Party, author of many books, political analyst and human rights activist.

Email: Drshabirchoudhry@gmail.com

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