Indian media advises govt to join CPEC

Reacts positively to Pak general’s invitation

ISLAMABAD: Though there has been no reaction from the Modi government in New Delhi to Lt Gen Aamir Riaz, Commander, Southern Command’s invitation to India to participate in the ongoing $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the Indian media on Wednesday reminded Modi that the CPEC is no longer a project in Pakistan, but one that runs through it, a project that will link 64 countries.

China, which has disputes with India, also told New Delhi that the CPEC is an "open initiative" of its One Belt One Road project, but it would consider the possibility of other countries joining it through consensus with Pakistan.

Lt Gen Aamir Riaz did not speak in isolation or in his personal capacity as he represents an institution and the prospect of India joining the CPEC is part of this ‘institutional thinking’ for quite some time, though it was publicly articulated by the khakis for the first time.

India’s prestigious English daily, The Hindu on Wednesday editorially commented on General Riaz’s invitation to India commenting, “While there can be little expectation of any room for India in CPEC at present, there is space for India to step back and see where China and Pakistan want to go with it. The offer to India was made along with offers to other neighbouring countries”.

Already, the daily notes that Iran wants Gwadar to be a “sister” port to Chabahar, and Turkmenistan and other Central Asian Republics have shown interest in the warm-water port that will be a nodal point for goods through Pakistan to the Chinese city of Kashgar.

“Further north, despite its problems on terror from Pakistan, Afghanistan is becoming a nodal point for China’s connectivity projects to Iran,” the daily noted. However, it is incorrect for the Indian daily while reminding Modi about the importance of the CPEC, that General Riaz’s invite was simply ‘rhetoric’, because he asked New Delhi to desist from India’s “anti-Pakistan activities and subversion” in Balochistan.

Pakistani generals do not indulge in ‘rhetoric’ and publicly inviting New Delhi is a well thought out strategy. Though the rapidly changing geo-political strategies are not lost on The Hindu which further notes that, “The meeting among Russian, Chinese and Pakistani officials on Afghanistan this week, and Russian engagement with the Taliban, indicate much more is changing in the region than just the alignment of highways and tunnels.

While India has done well to shore up relations with others in the region, it cannot afford to be blindsided by their involvement with the OBOR project and Chinese plans.”  The Chinese media also took up this khaki invite when the Global Times in an article noted, "Surprise aside (over General's call), New Delhi should consider accepting the olive branch Pakistan has extended in a bid to participate in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.”

It further added that such an opportunity could be transient. “There is a possibility that the open attitude toward India joining the CPEC will quickly be overwhelmed by opposition voices from Pakistan if New Delhi does not respond in a timely manner to the General's overture," the article said, pointing out that the best way to reduce hostilities is by establishing economic cooperation based on mutual benefits to put aside what cannot be reached by a consensus.”

Proposals from Pakistani generals in uniform are not new but India is building up on its record of ‘missed opportunities’, and only time will tell whether Modi will live up to his ‘out of box’ solutions.

In this regard at another time in April 2012, the then Chief of Army Staff, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani had sent out a proposal from the dizzying heights of the world’s highest battle ground, that there should be withdrawal of troops from the Siachen Glacier sector.

Apart from Kayani, former president Asif Zardari in a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi, appealed for a mutual withdrawal of troops from the Siachen Glacier sector, one day after an avalanche buried 129 Pakistani soldiers and 11 civilians at Gyari.

Kayani had also at the time invited an Indian journalist from The Hindu to join the media team that accompanied him. 

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif while in opposition gave out a similar call for withdrawal to save lives of Pakistanis and Indian soldiers who lost their lives more to the weather than bullets.

However, one has to also take in account ground realities in New Delhi, and what emerged after Modi’s 2015 goodwill gesture of surprise visit to Lahore followed immediately by the Pathankot terrorist attack, Modi’s hands are tied.

In short Pathankot proved that efforts were still being made in Pakistan to sabotage efforts to improve Indo-Pak bilateral relations. Pakistan would do well to reign in militants who carry out cross-border terror as Pathankot and fauji invites surely cannot go hand in hand.