This is apropos a Business Recorder op-ed "Indo-Pak tension: The CPEC factor" carried by the newspaper on Sunday. The writer seems to have raised a highly interesting point in relation to the ongoing India-Pakistan tension and the profundity of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in this regard.
The writer has argued, among other things, "at least for now, India in a fit of strategic envy may like to act as a spoiler, though, if and when CPEC endeavour consummates, it may have afterthoughts and may be tempted to join it. Iran has too expressed interest and Afghanistan may too decide to join the bandwagon. However, this does not stop India from creating hurdles, given the embedded distrust with Pakistan. Given the historical baggage, BJP government might keep on stoking foreign intervention in Balochistan and divert attention from the Kashmir issue. It may employ sabotage, subterfuges and destabilisation to impede CPEC progress and exacerbate socio-economic provincial and religious differences in Karachi, Balochistan and G-B."
The writer, however, seems to have ignored the fact that it is not India alone that is inimical to the CPEC; there are some other countries, particularly the US, that do not want China to "expand" its strategic interests into the Arabian Sea through Gwadar port. Iran, a Middle East regional power, too is said to have been looking at unprecedented economic and defence cooperation between China and Pakistan with a measure of hidden hostility, although Iranian President Rouhani says that Chabahar won't compete with Gwadar. In a nutshell, CPEC is both an opportunity and a challenge insofar as Pakistan is concerned. That India seeks to pose a threat to CPEC is a fact.