Thursday, May 16, 2013

Sharif an Asian game-changer

The resounding victory for Nawaz Sharif in the Pakistani election at the weekend may herald a subtle realignment in the Asian power game.

One of Sharif’s first statements as the margin of his win became clear was to express a wish for improved ties with his country’s long-time rival India, inviting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to his swearing-in ceremony. Singh, for his part, was the first national leader to congratulate him.

China, which had closely allied itself with the previous Pakistan People’s Party-led government, took much longer to offer its congratulations, the words finally coming in a news conference where Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said China was willing “to continue to support Pakistan in its efforts to protect national stability and promote national development”.

In a less than gushing endorsement, the spokesman made reference to the two countries being “all-weather friends”, interpreted by some that China saw the relationship entering a squally period, while expecting it to survive.

Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League will not have an absolute majority in Parliament, but it will be close enough to ensure it can work with minor parties to form a government and not have to bring either the PPP or Imran Khan’s Movement for Justice Party into the coalition, leaving him virtually a free hand in the country’s foreign relations.

That could be interesting says China expert Swaran Singh of Jawaharal Nehru University in New Delhi. “After Sharif was ousted in a military coup in 1999 he appealed for help from China and was rebuffed,” Professor Singh said. “So he has bad memories.

“However, I expect he will find a way of dealing with it and in the end China doesn’t really care who is in charge.”

Even so, a rapprochement between India and Pakistan will hardly be welcome in Beijing which counted Islamabad as one of its few allies in a region growing wary of its increasing military profile.      

 

 

 

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