Pakistan's balancing act between the West and China has been quite dubious, with the country giving assurance to both sides of commitment to their respective interests in the region.
But for how long will Pakistan continue to fool the West and China - it is a question that policymakers in Washington and Beijing must ask themselves, reported South Asia Press.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif landed in China on Tuesday for a two-day official visit at the country's Premier Li Keqiang's invitation. This is his first trip to the neighbouring country since assuming office in April this year.
The country's Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, among other Pakistani officials are part of the delegation accompanying the PM.
At a time of drastic global geopolitical realignments, Sharif's visit to China is being closely watched by the West, due to Islamabad's commitment to different international economic institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, from whom Pakistan is seeking financial assistance and which view China as an exploitative power, reported South Asia Press.
Ahead of his departure, Sharif posted on the social media site Twitter saying, "Honored to be among the first few leaders to have been invited after the historic 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. At a time when the world is grappling with multiple challenges, Pakistan and China stand together as friends and partners."
The prime minister further said in his tweet that discussions with the Chinese leadership would focus on the "revitalisation of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) among many other things."
However, it is well-known that the Chinese economic ambitions are expansionist. As records show, strategic infrastructure projects are taken up globally in an attempt to set up major debt traps for countries. Chinese financial assistance in the form of "easy loans" have already destabilized countries like Sri Lanka, Laos and Mongolia, reported South Asia Press.
Moreover, Pakistan appears to push ahead with making financial and economic deals with China that are neither transparent nor do they seem to benefit the country.
The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), launched in April 2015 was supposed to turn around Pakistan's economy. Despite all such rhetoric in public from the leadership in both countries that it will lift ordinary Pakistanis from poverty, the CPEC is yet to deliver on its promises.
Experts say that Chinese projects are benefiting only a handful of the elite of the country, and this perception further took root when Imran Khan, the cricketer-turned-politician came to power.
Khan had already questioned the transparency of the CPEC, and once in power, he created a CPEC Authority, which added a bureaucratic layer, slowing down the CPEC projects further, reported South Asia Press.
On the other hand, in recent years, Islamabad's relationship with the West, primarily with Washington, has also been under pressure, especially since the US withdrew from Afghanistan last year.
This relationship worsened even further since the downfall of Imran Khan's government this year, as he accused the US of orchestrating his ouster from power, reported South Asia Press.
( With inputs from ANI )
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