Zardari Wants China To Be Arbitrator For India-Pakistan Disputes

Zardari Wants China To Be Arbitrator For India-Pakistan Disputes Dated : 23 Feb 2009, 1748 hrs IST, Source : Saibal Dasgupta, TNN BEIJING : Text: Pakistani president Asif Ali Zardari has called on China to play the arbitrator for solving disputes between different countries in Asia. He did not specifically mention India, but it is apparent that the Pakistani president wants Beijing to help resolve Islamabad's differences with New Delhi on a range of issues. India has sternly rejected suggestions of third party assistance in resolving bilateral issues like the Kashmir disputes. Zardari has now given a new twist to Pakistan's diplomatic game by replacing the United States with China as the possible third-party that could help resolve the India-Pakistan disputes. The Pakistani president praised China for its many qualities and then went on to say, "China is therefore in a unique position to use these attributes to help its neighboring countries improve relations among and between themselves". He cited China's role as a major trade partner of all the 14 countries bordering it as one of its special attributes. "China is the glue holding the continent together - not only in terms of geography but in political and economic terms," the Pakistani president said in a signed article in the state-run China Daily today. Entitled "Sino-Pakistan relations higher than Himalayas", the article showered fulsome praise on China describing it as "an anchor of stability and peace not only in Asia but the world". At the same time, Zardari shrewdly played on Chinese fears about separatists in its Xinjiang province getting support from Islamic fundamentalists across the border in Pakistan. "We are determined not to allow the noxious fumes of this dangerous phenomenon and ideology to spread to other countries," Zardari said. He claimed that "Pakistan is fighting terrorists not only for its own sake but for the entire region." There was no mention of the Mumbai attack, which is by far the largest case of terrorism in Asia in recent decades. But he referred to recently kidnapping of Chinese citizens in Pakistan. "Indeed terrorists have specifically targeted some of our Chinese friends who were working in Pakistan to drive a wedge between the two countries and peoples". Zardari tried to push Pakistan's case for a larger role in China's economy by offering the use of ports in his country. "Given proper infrastructure, the Pakistani ports of Karachi, Port Qasim and Gwadar are nearer to the Chinese heartland than Shanghai and Hong Kong. Pakistan can also help channel energy supplies from the Gulf to China," he said. "The Pakistan-China friendship is a comprehensive partnership. China has been instrumental in helping Pakistan develop its civil and military infrastructure," the article said and then went on to say that Beijing has helped in a wide range of construction projects from nuclear power plants to dams, roads and industrial estates. "The port of Gwadar on Pakistan's Arabian Sea coast is a testament to China's friendship with Pakistan" he said. Relationship between China and his party, the Pakistan Peoples Party, spanned three generations from late prime ministers Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto to his son and PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, he said.

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