Pakistan Tries To Arm-Twist China Over Gwadar Port. The Plan Backfires.
Islamabad: Nations, like people, often reflect behavioural patterns. They have a reputation, depict habitual traits, and usually find the essence of their identity in their nature. So is the case with Pakistan – a country which never fails to find itself on the wrong side of history for its conduct – with friends and foes alike. The latest in its series of antics, the nation, mired in a worrisome concoction of terrorism, poverty, inflation, rigged elections, civil unrest, political instability, and economic misery tried to arm-twist its “all-weather ally” China. As one would guess correctly – it didn’t end well, with Islamabad getting snubbed, yet again. PAKISTAN’S ‘TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT’ TACTICS WITH CHINA A high-level meeting was organised recently between senior government and military officials of Pakistan and China. Deliberations and negotiations over the future use of the strategic port of Gwadar in Balochistan was being discussed in accordance with the so-called ‘China-Pakistan Economic Corridor’. At this point, Pakistan, which perhaps momentarily forgot which side of the negotiating table its was sitting on, …