Pakistan has inconspicuously planned a new deal with China to hand over Gilgit-Baltistan for 50 years. The reason is the country’s troubled economic conditions and tensions with the US.
However, the caretaker, the Federal Minister for Information, Broadcasting, and Parliamentary Affairs Murtaza, has denied it. On the other hand, the Northern Gilgit-Baltistan province and the Chinese province of Gansu signed a memorandum of understanding on December 9, 2023.
The MoU is for transferring high-mountain agriculture technology and machinery to the mountainous region to help local farmers increase their production of various crops.
Gansu province, in Chinese, is the center of the Belt and Road Initiative, and Gilgit-Baltistan is the gateway to CPEC. On the pretext of improving communication between these two regions, the Chinese government will help the government of Gilgit-Baltistan “to develop agriculture, food security, and human and livestock development.”
It is pertinent to mention that GB is not officially a part of Pakistan but forms part of the portion of disputed Kashmir that is administered by Pakistan. The region is Pakistan’s only land link to China and is at the heart of the US$65 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) infrastructure development plan.
CPEC started in 2013, with US$62 billion spent to date. But now, debt-ridden Pakistan is searching for loans to pay older loans. Whoever will give — and on whichever terms — is to be heartily embraced. The ‘unbreakable bonds’ of the Pakistan-China friendship are under stress.
According to IMF data, China holds roughly US$30 billion of Pakistan’s US$126 billion total external foreign debt. This is greatly its IMF debt (US$7.8 billion) and exceeds its borrowings from the World Bank and Asian Development Bank combined.
So why is mighty China awaiting the green signal from the American-led IMF before releasing some relief? Shouldn’t it at least reschedule Pakistan’s debt? Or, better, wipe it off?
