China’s Af-Pak moment

As India notes with satisfaction the regional implications of US-Russian rapprochement, it should also pay attention to China’s growing role in the Great Game.

Even before this weekend’s ethnic riots in the Xinjiang province — that remind us of the geopolitical link between China’s far western region, Central Asia and the Subcontinent — the Obama Administration had decided to raise the level of political consultation with Beijing on its Af-Pak strategy.

The US Special Envoy on Pakistan and Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke, traveled to Beijing a couple of months ago to brief the Chinese leadership on Obama’s game plan for the Subcontinent.

Obama is keen to mobilise a range of Chinese commercial and political strengths in the region to the task of bringing stability to the borderlands of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The problem for Delhi does not stem from a larger Chinese role in Afghanistan, but on whether Beijing will let its special relationship with Islamabad come in the way of greater Sino-Indian cooperation in Central Asia and Afghanistan.

The writer is a Professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore