The geostrategic compulsions created by the Ukraine and Afghanistan crises compelled Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to visit South Asian countries to find common ground and project a unified front with headwinds expected from the West, a report said.
Last month, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and Nepal within a span of six days from March 22-27.
During his visit to Pakistan, Wang Yi expounded 'four suggestions' for the development of Sino-Pakistan relations which revolved around benefits only for China and which clearly reflect Chinese priorities for Pakistan, an Inside Over report said.
The emphasis was on Pakistan's support of Chinese policies at multilateral forums, revitalization of CPEC, strengthening anti-terrorism cooperation in the context of security concerns of Chinese nationals in Pakistan and close multilateral cooperation perhaps in the context of cooperation on Afghanistan, the report said.
Another key feature of the visit was China's first-time participation at the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) as a guest invitee, the report said, adding that, China perceives OIC as an important platform for its outreach to the Muslim world, to mediate for Ukraine crisis in favour of Russia, and to garner support on Afghanistan.
Wang Yi's surprise visit to Afghanistan was intended to signal that the Afghan issue remains important in the current international peace and security agenda for China, the report said.
During March 30-31, at the 3rd Foreign Ministers' meeting of Iran, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, China exhibited a high level of financial commitment to the Taliban regime, especially in the mining sector, the report further said.
The report further said that the Chinese Foreign Minister's visit to India could be seen primarily in the context of the projection of a China-India alignment on the Ukrainian crisis.
China issued three separate readouts of Wang Yi's meetings with Indian leaders, with a common emphasis on delinking the border issue from the overall development of bilateral relations, contrary to the Indian stand of border issues being the centrepiece of bilateral relations, the report noted.
Wang Yi's last trip, which was to Nepal, gave rise to speculation that the implementation of Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects would find a major push during the visit. However, though BRI featured in all the official Chinese handouts of Wang Yi's meetings, none of the nine agreements signed was related to the BRI, the report said.
Beijing appears to be feeling the pressure, with the US drawing parallels between Ukraine and Taiwan, and Europe asking Beijing to mediate with Russia to stop the war, the report said, adding, China obviously does not want to be clubbed or isolated from Russia in the current scenario and is looking to garner support.
The larger aim of China's regional initiatives, however, remains a concern, the report concluded.
( With inputs from ANI )
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