- China has quietly decided to exercise leadership in plugging the roots of instability in Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Pakistan, following Washington’s diminishing role in the region, and compulsions of its One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative.
- China’s decision to turn proactive along the turbulent AfPak-Central Asia corridor was anchored earlier this month.
- Top military commanders from China, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan met in Urumqi, Xinjiang province, on August 3, to form a “Quadrilateral Cooperation and Coordination Mechanism in Counter Terrorism.”
- China found that those in Xinjiang who seek independence and who even want to go outside to join the battlefield with ISIS and other terrorists, choose this route between China, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and even Pakistan to the training grounds in West Asia.
- Consequently, in recent years China has dramatically enhanced its military assistance to Tajikistan.
- Recently, China has decided to increase this kind of military cooperation with Afghanistan.
- China wants to plug this flow between Xinjiang and Tajikistan and Tajikistan and Afghanistan.
Quadrilateral mechanism
- China stressed that the urgency of establishing the new military “quadrilateral mechanism” followed the disruption of another quadrilateral dialogue on seeking a political reconciliation in Afghanistan, involving China, Pakistan, Afghanistan and the U.S.
- China was seeking a political solution to the Afghan crisis to promote the OBOR initiative, and on grounds of enhancing its national security.
- The killing of Osama bin Laden was a benchmark, as it marked the Obama administration’s policy to scale down American presence in Afghanistan.
- Ever since China has given more and more importance to its bilateral ties with Afghanistan. China has to plug the resulting vacuum because no one else would.
- The Chinese also asserted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s references to Balochistan during his Independence Day speech had caused a “major disturbance,” because of its possible regional fallout.
One Belt, One Road
One Belt, One Road lies the creation of
- An economic land belt that includes countries on the original Silk Road through Central Asia, West Asia, the Middle East and Europe,
- A maritime road that links China’s port facilities with the African coast, pushing up through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean.
The project aims to redirect the country’s domestic overcapacity and capital for regional infrastructure development to improve trade and relations with ASEAN, Central Asian and European countries.