Posted by Dr. Gopal Unnikrishna Kurup
China's Long Nose
China is of late poking its long nose in to Afghanistan aiming at weaning away that country from any Indian influence and instead having their own in the entire region, embracing Pakistan too. Unfortunately for India the new Afghanistan President, Ashraf Ghani, elected in mid-2014, is more willing than previous President Karzai for closer ties with Pakistan.
In February 2015, a new strategic dialogue was held between Pakistan and Afghanistan under Chinese coordination, illustrating Beijing’s recent interest in its strategic neighborhood. Since 2001, China had been limiting its intervention to minimal security contribution; but over the past two years, a proactive tone has been used vis-à-vis improving bilateral ties with Afghanistan.
One of the ostensible reasons for China's new interest in the region, specially Afghanistan, is said to be its concerns about the growing insurgency in its Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. It sees the Uyghur separatist movement as a national security matter with important external connections and wants to preempt any chance of Afghanistan becoming a strong base for Uyghur militancy. But the fact that the Uyghur separatist movement has not overgrown the Zinjiang province to a degree that China cannot tackle it within its borders gives little credence to this view.
The more apparent reason for this new thrust of Chinese diplomacy in Afghanistan is, along with the move to sideline India in that country, is to fill the space vacated by US and become the dominant strategic power in the region especially when they have the conniving friendly Pakistan' and thus become the counter weight to India. Further it may now want to leave a cleare economic foot print that can overflow and spread in the whole region.
However, India is unlikely to be sidelined in Afghanistan. New Delhi is still an important strategic partner for Kabul, and the future of their bilateral relations depends on how India manages to balance and maintain its ties with Kabul.
China's Long Nose
China is of late poking its long nose in to Afghanistan aiming at weaning away that country from any Indian influence and instead having their own in the entire region, embracing Pakistan too. Unfortunately for India the new Afghanistan President, Ashraf Ghani, elected in mid-2014, is more willing than previous President Karzai for closer ties with Pakistan.
In February 2015, a new strategic dialogue was held between Pakistan and Afghanistan under Chinese coordination, illustrating Beijing’s recent interest in its strategic neighborhood. Since 2001, China had been limiting its intervention to minimal security contribution; but over the past two years, a proactive tone has been used vis-à-vis improving bilateral ties with Afghanistan.
One of the ostensible reasons for China's new interest in the region, specially Afghanistan, is said to be its concerns about the growing insurgency in its Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. It sees the Uyghur separatist movement as a national security matter with important external connections and wants to preempt any chance of Afghanistan becoming a strong base for Uyghur militancy. But the fact that the Uyghur separatist movement has not overgrown the Zinjiang province to a degree that China cannot tackle it within its borders gives little credence to this view.
The more apparent reason for this new thrust of Chinese diplomacy in Afghanistan is, along with the move to sideline India in that country, is to fill the space vacated by US and become the dominant strategic power in the region especially when they have the conniving friendly Pakistan' and thus become the counter weight to India. Further it may now want to leave a cleare economic foot print that can overflow and spread in the whole region.
However, India is unlikely to be sidelined in Afghanistan. New Delhi is still an important strategic partner for Kabul, and the future of their bilateral relations depends on how India manages to balance and maintain its ties with Kabul.
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