New Delhi, Jan 6: US President Donald Trump’s New Year’s day Tweet against Pakistan where he accused the country of providing safe havens to terrorists will further strengthen the already close ties between Islamabad and Beijing, including China acquiring a Pakistani military base close to Iran’s Chabahar port, a report published in the state-run Global Times claimed. In his first tweet of 2018, Trump charged Pakistan with deceit and treachery and cut off all further aid to Islamabad for harbouring terrorists US troops were hunting in Afghanistan.
The Chinese daily attributed Islamabad’s decision to allow Chinese currency in bilateral trade and financing transactions as China has stepped up its investments in the $50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. A day after Trump’s tweet, the State Bank of Pakistan announced it has taken steps to ensure the use of the Yuan in bilateral trade and financing transactions.
It also quoted a ‘Washington Times‘ report that China is in talks with Pakistan to build its second overseas military base as part of a push for greater maritime capabilities along strategic sea routes. The facility could be built at Jiwani, a port near Iran’s Chabahar close to the border in the Gulf of Oman, and is located a short distance from Gwadar in Balochistan province which is currently being developed by China to gain entry into the waters of the Arabian Sea opposite the Mumbai coast. Jiwani is located just a stone’s throw from Chabahar port being jointly developed by Iran, India and Afghanistan to ensure a trade corridor for Indian exports to Afghanistan.
On China establishing a military base at Jiwani, Lin Minwang, a professor at Fudan University’s Centre for South Asian Studies asserted that both Beijing and Islamabad have the ability to build a joint naval and air facility in Pakistan, but it is unnecessary at this time.
He further said that if the US and its allies push their Indo-Pacific strategy to the extreme, China will surely carry out a plan with Pakistan to ensure the security of sea routes.
(With inputs from agencies)