Author: N. K. Pant
Publication: The Free Press Journal
Date: August 28, 2002
URL: http//www.samachar.com/features/280802-fpj.html
It is a normal practice for the
heads of states or the governments to visit friendly nations once in a
while to further their foreign policy objectives whenever they can spare
their precious little time from pressing domestic burdens. Seen from this
angle from New Delhi, there could, perhaps, have been nothing unusual when
General Pervez Musharraf, President as well as the Army Chief of Pakistan
went on a recent scheduled official goodwill tour of two SAARC nations-
Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. But mysteriously the wily General, instead of
making a short hop back home across the Arabian Sea, decided to make an
extraordinarily long and tedious detour to Beijing for a mere ten hours
halt to offer salaams to theocratic Pakistan's communist patrons in the
People's Republic of China (PRC). Moreover, what added to the Chinese puzzle
was that the General had already made two official trips to that country
within a short span of the preceding one year. Even three years back, during
the limited war in mountainous terrain of Kargil which was covertly engineered
by him as the Pakistani Army Chief, Musharraf was in Beijing on a military
related important official business. This was the time when Indian intelligence
sleuths used their skill by intercepting the long notorious telephone conversation
between him and Islamabad's vice army chief proving his duplicity in the
sordid military adventure against India.
What could have been the aim of
such hush-hush exercise of calling on the communist leadership at Beijing
this particular time of the year? Surely, it could neither be a mere discussion
with President Jiang Zemin on his country's troubled ties with India nor
an attempt to convince the Chinese leadership that Pakistan's current warming
up to the United States on the terror front was not at the cost of Chinese
national interests. On the other hand, the real purpose of the visit was
to send frightening signals to New Delhi that in its present military stand
off with India, Islamabad had full backing from its staunchest ally-China
with whom it blindly shares common views on all possible issues under the
sun.
China has left no stone unturned
to contain India strategically in its efforts to be the dominant power
in Asia and Islamabad's persistent all pervasive hostile posture to New
Delhi became a convenient tool to achieve such perverse objective. In this
context, Beijing's continuing assistance to Pakistan's nuclear and missile
programmes is quite evidently a part of this diabolical policy. Otherwise
why should China consistently provide Pakistan with wide-ranging wholehearted
assistance to enable the Islamic country to develop nuclear weapons and
a wide variety of short and medium range missiles meant for use against
India? Strangely, the artful mandarins in Beijing are quick to feign diplomatic
innocence and deny their involvement in developing Pakistan's nuclear weaponry
and its delivery system. China which pretends to exude warmth and friendliness
to New Delhi, also has become a source for Pakistan for acquiring conventional
weapons such as aircraft, guns, tanks and naval vessels at friendship rates
in order to enable it to maintain military parity with India.
It is a well established fact that
China is deliberately playing delaying tactics with India in solving the
long standing border dispute with the aim of reviving the bitter discord
at an appropriate time of choosing of its own. Presently, the communist
country is frantically engaged in modernization programme of its military
machine that includes nuclear-tipped land, air and sea launched missiles
along with long-range aircraft. It has purchased long-range SU-27 and SU-30
combat aircraft, submarines, destroyers, sophisticated air defence missiles,
air to air refuellers and IL-76 air freighters for conversion into AWACS.
China's rapid economic growth and increasing wealth has come handy to move
on a fast track in its military modernization programme by obtaining sophisticated
Russian as well as western weaponry and advanced defence technology.
Strangely, the continuing tension
in South Asia suits the commercially uncanny China quite well. Not only
it keeps India tied up militarily to its belligerent western neighbour
in the sub-continent but also creates a lucrative market in Pakistan for
their military-industrial complex. In an obviously unfriendly act, in January,
2002 China stepped up military supplies to Pakistan in the midst of heightening
Indo-Pak tension. The hardware included unassembled brand new S-7 and S-7
fighter aircraft, spares, nuclear and missile parts. In the preceding year
too, according to reports appearing in the US media, Islamabad received
as many as 12 shipments of missile components which were meant for the
production of Shaheen series of medium range nuclear tipped missiles capable
of targeting a major part of India. Pakistan also has plans to produce
four warships at Karachi with Chinese assistance.
It has almost become a routine practice
in Beijing to issue officially tailored denials after news reports on supplies
of arms, nuclear and missile material appear in the western press. These
are often dismissed as groundless rumours meant to slander China. Islamabad
too follows its master's voice in contradicting the veracity of such news
reports despite the fact that even some Pakistani dailies carried items
on arrival of several Chinese ships at Karachi port laden with defence
supplies in January this year. Strangely, Islamabad calls its nuclear weaponry
and delivery system as totally indigenous and refutes that China has provided
any assistance in their fabrication.
Recently, the renowned Japanese
expert on international relations Hideaki Kase who served as special advisor
to former Japanese Prime Ministers Takeo Fukuda and Yasuto Nakasone almost
threw a bombshell when he made an incredibly gloomy prognosis saying that
China wants a Indo-Pak war - possibly a nuclear conflict to weaken India.
His advice to India was to put in place anti- ballistic missile shield
as Beijing is engaging in a large-scale military build up. Mr Kase who
presently is the professor of international relations at Takushoku University
feels that the longer one party rule continues in China, the greater is
the danger to surrounding region. According to his assessment, the communist
rulers know that 'unless China seizes hegemony in the neighbouring region,
it can not assure rule over several billion of people in the years to come.'
This probably explains Beijing's
strange behavior in its dealings with New Delhi. During the preceding decade,
diplomatically shrewd Chinese have pretended to come closer to India by
overtly extending hand of cordiality. There have been several friendly
visits at the highest political level from both sides. Even Indian naval
and air chiefs have paid visits to China though the army chief's scheduled
tour has abruptly been called off. Besides there have been several exchanges
in commercial, cultural and other fields. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee
is also scheduled to make an official sojourn in China by this year end.
But all these friendly gestures would remain a mere cosmetic exercise and
pure hogwash unless Beijing stops endangering India's very existence as
an political entity by continuously building up Pakistan's India specific
conventional and nuclear arsenal besides showing sincerity in amicably
settling the long standing border dispute with India.
