A Joint Seminar of NDU - National Defence University

Thirdly, the premise regarding China’s role in the evolving strategic situation of
the region was also addressed. China’s rise as an economic power has shifted the
world from uni-polarity to multi-polarity. The US and her allies are uneasy due to this
rise. Nevertheless, the US shift of focus from the Atlantic to the Asia-Pacific is certainly
to cater this rise. It is using all kinds of tactics to tone down this rise to maintain its
global hegemony; using India as its ‘face’ in South Asia being one of the strategies.
Thus, China may play a very vital role in tackling the evolving strategic situation of the
region. It may provide a linkage between Central and South Asia. It may also facilitate a
process of improving the security situation of the region and particularly of Pakistan.
The South Asian region suffers from threats and grave threat perceptions. The
US led War on Terror being one of the concerns. Due to this instability was brought in
Afghanistan which poured into the nearby states. China may help the entire region as a
whole in this context. Specifically, its role becomes vital after the projected US
withdrawal in 2014. What China may do is to act as a neutral ground for paving ways of
bringing stability in the region. This would be beneficial for the entire stake holders and
for China itself.
Wrap-Up
Ambassador Riaz Khokhar while summing up the discussion stated that the
Central Asian Region ‘chess board’ is wide open and the main emphasis is going to be
on the Asia Pacific. This is so because an obvious containment of China is vital to US
interest. Certainly this strategy of containment is already underway but the question is
how to strengthen this containment? And most importantly, what is the role of NATO in
this regard? Whether it should be in the region or not? In addition, it is to be kept in
mind that the US withdrawal from the region is very necessary because it is the main
force behind the destabilization of the region. In this regard, Pakistan and China must
strengthen their strategic dialogue to ensure that the US and India would not take
advantage of the situation. Furthermore, SCO needs to be a little more aggressive in
order to counter US bad intentions. Lastly, China has no problems with any of the
muslim country rather there is only good-will which needs to be capitalized.
15