Aga khan university, Higher educational institution in Karachi, Pakistan

As Pakist Prime Minister Imran Khan gears up for his first high-level visit to the United States, experts believe that Islamabad is playing a double game in managing affairs between Washington and Beijing -- the two rival economies.Pakistan remains China's closest ally as it is actively aiding, abetting and promoting Beijing's strategic goals and hegemony in the region and the world.However, Pakistan knows its strategic significance in the region, and hence leaving no stone unturned to convince the United States to gain financial and military assistance.Taha Siddiqui, a Pakist journalist living in exile in Paris, said, "Pakistan is going through economic turmoil and is in need of American financial and military assistance. It appears things seem to be on the hold and in review with regards to China's investments inside Pakistan, particularly the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.""The Pakistan military chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, who is accompanying the Pakist PM, and is the defacto in-charge of Pakistan, wants to revive and restart the relationship with the US, and Bajwa knows Washington needs Islamabad in case of Afghstan and if there is any conflict with Iran in the coming days. And therefore Pakistan may once again offer its services as a rental state," he added."It also knows that the Americans want to restrict the expansionary footprint of China in the region and therefore Pakistan may go for playing the double game whereby it keeps the US and China both engaged with Islamabad and seeks maximum financial benefit from both, and it can do so because of the geostrategic position it enjoys in the region," Siddiqui said.The Trump administration appears to believe that the pressure it exerted on Pakistan, in an attempt to soften it over the last year, is what is paying dividends now with the country goading the Taliban -- most of whose leaders take shelter in Pakistan -- to the negotiating table.The reality is quite the opposite.Quick to seize on President Trump's stated desire to withdraw from Afghstan, Pakistan's decision to facilitate the talks has more to do with its keenness to drive the US out of Afghstan in order to get the Taliban back in the saddle in Kabul.Astonishingly, it seems to matter little to Trump that he himself recently accused Pakistan of deceiving Washington over the years by sheltering terrorist proxies such as the Taliban and the Haqq network, supporting them in carrying out deadly attacks against US troops in Afghstan.Nor does it matter to him that the Afghan government blames Pakistan, particularly its spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence, for keeping the Taliban militarily and politically alive throughout these years.Junaid Qureshi, the Director of the Amsterdam-based European Foundation for South Asian Studies (EFSAS) said, "The foreign policy of Pakistan towards the US and China might differ, yet it is fashioned through a balance of power principle, since the destabilised state of Pakistan requires someone to play as a gyroscope that counterweights the tilted scales and establishes an equilibrium."Nevertheless, it is crucial to note that Pakistan has happened to develop an important and strategic role for itself as it appears that it is a fundamental ingredient for China's rise in the region and beyond, through its provision of alternative energy supplies, transportation routes, and national security.Yet, it remains to be seen whether the country will succeed in clearing all its woes, considering the rise of extremism in Pakistan and the support to it by the military establishment. There is a growing realisation throughout the world, including in the US, that Pakistan has played a 'double-game' for decades."In this scenario, some may ask whether Islamabad's marriage with China and simultaneously its affair with the US, is Pakistan's next double game?" Qureshi mused.( With inputs from ANI )

Aga Khan UniversityFOLLOW

Aga khan university, Latest News

Just a few days before Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's meeting with US President Donald Trump, the World Baloch Orgsation and the Baloch Republican Party have launched an awareness campaign on the enforced disappearances in Balochistan. ...

Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday embarked on a three-day visit to the US where he is set to meet President Donald Trump on July 22 in a bid to "reset" tense bilateral relations. ...

In a bid to strike a chord with video game lovers, the Indian Air Force (IAF) on Saturday released the teaser of a flight simulator mobile game to be launched by the end of the month. ...

Ten US lawmakers have written to US President Donald Trump, urging him to raise the issue of human rights abuses in Pakistan's Sindh -- including enforced disappearances -- during his upcoming meeting with Pakist Prime Minister Imran Khan here. ...

Political activists from Punjab have asked pro-Khalist extremists settled abroad to stop fuelling separatism in the state. ...

Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan, who visits the US from Sunday hoping for a reset in the frayed relations between the one-time close allies, brings a bargaining chip: the Taliban connection that is crucial to a peace deal in Afghanistan. ...

After years of discord over Afghstan, United States President Donald Trump will push Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan to pressure the Taliban to strike a peace deal, with the aim of extricating from US' longest war, a Trump administration officia ...

As Pakist Prime Minister Imran Khan gears up for his first high-level visit to the United States, experts believe that Islamabad is playing a double game in managing affairs between Washington and Beijing -- the two rival economies. ...