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Editor's Note:
The writer, Mr. I. Hussain Janjua is a senior media professional and analyst having experience of research & broadcast journalism in different organisations. He is a non-resident fellow of Chengdu Institute of World Affairs (CIWA). (Email: [email protected]; twitter: @ihussainjanjua)
As China marked the 50th anniversary Dr Henry Kissinger’s secret visit to Beijing from Islamabad, the former US secretary of state, while addressing a webinar titled ‘50 Years of China-US Relations’ Pak-China relations have gone from strength to strength in over the seven-decade long friendship between the two South Asian nations.
Addressing a webinar organised by the China Development Forum Henry Kissinger hailed Pakistan for its key role during that period and how the then Pakistani president, General Yahya Khan acted as a go-between China and the US, communicating secretly with Chinese premier Zhou Enlai and US president Nixon, leading to his path-breaking journey in a PIA plane from Islamabad to Beijing on July 9, 1971.
The former secretary of state recounted on how the first message from China was in the form of a handwritten note which was personally dictated to him in the White House by the then Pakistan’s Ambassador in Washington, Agha Hilaly.
Speaking next Senator Mushahid Hussain, representing Pakistan, said that this historic breakthrough in China-US relations became possible due to the “indispensable role of Pakistan which enjoyed the trust of both China and the United States.
Mushahid Hussain also said that Pakistan’s former president General Yahya Khan undertook this sensitive mission which was code-named “Marco-Polo” with ‘military precision, secrecy and deception’, with an official announcement of a decoy visit by Dr Kissinger to Nathiagali on the pretext that ‘the American official was resting due to an upset stomach’, while he had secretly flown to Beijing.
In fact it has been an honor for Pakistan to play such an important role in the shaping of history as Dr Kissinger’s visit to China led to a tectonic shift in the global balance of power in 1971.
Normalization of relations had been beneficial for not just China and the US but also for Asia and the world. China assisted the US in the cold war whereas the US had enabled China to come out of isolation which revolutionized the country.
The lesson of China-US relations was that cooperation was good for both the countries and there was no room for outmoded policies like containment or a New Cold War that have devastating with respect to peace and development in the larger context
But the bond of friendship between Pakistan and China goes back to centuries old trade relations when Chinese traders on their business trips used to travel though Pakistan via Silk Route.
Still this relationship has bonded together the two nations through CPEC, a flagship project of Chinese President Xi Jin Ping's initiative of “One Road and One Belt”. In recent years, Pakistan-China relations witnessed a qualitative transformation as the bilateral ties expanded from defence to the economic sphere.
History is witness to the fact that Pakistan has been playing constructive role for bringing peace in the world, be it war on terror, rehabilitation and reconstruction of Afghanistan and any issue anywhere in the world.
Beijing and Islamabad have increased their coordination for peace and stability in Afghanistan as well as at the multilateral forums including the United Nations (UN) and Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). Traditional strategic cooperation is deepening to meet new geo-strategic challenges.
Along with Chinese approach of all-encompassing well being and betterment and promotion of peace Pakistan suits well in the scheme of things that China has undertaken for a better and progressive world through its “One Road and One Belt”.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
