By Swaran Singh
2015-4-23
Chinese President Xi Jinping's successful visit to Pakistan this week, especially his promise to invest over $46 billion, compared to $20 billion he promised for India last year, has briefly revived the perennial "Pakistan factor" of China-India relations and it is likely to color the thinking of Indian interlocutors as they prepare for the coming China-India summit in Beijing in May.
What makes China's continued indulgence of its "all-weather" strategic partner Pakistan seem such a formidable trend is the fact that, in the last five years, China's trade with Pakistan grew from $9 billion to $16 billion.
Meanwhile, the continued insurmountable Sino-Indian trade deficit, which has now risen to nearly $40 billion, has made India overcautious on all counts, be it China's financing of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, providing Pakistan with eight submarines, or various assessments on how US exit from Afghanistan will bring China and Pakistan even closer and eclipse India's unprecedented presence and investments in that country.
No comments:
Post a Comment