How China Buying Out Pakistan and Why India Needs To Worry!

Leaked documents reveal China’s plans to gain a controlling stake in large swathes of Pakistan’s economy—from farms and textiles to power projects, even the stock exchange.

- Ananth Krishnan

When Mao Zedong’s People’s Liberation Army marched into the restive Muslim-majority region on China’s western frontier in 1949, the Chairman decided to christen the People’s Republic’s newest province Xinjiang, literally meaning ‘new frontier’—a historical name used intermittently for China’s borderlands. Today, for many in Beijing, Pakistan is China’s new new frontier. If the 20-year blueprint envisioned by China’s leaders and Pakistan’s current government comes to fruition, Beijing will soon have a say in how almost every aspect of the Pakistani economy is run.

In the three years since the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project was launched, this transformation has already begun to unfold. A draft CPEC master plan —conceived of by China’s National Development and Reform Commission and Pakistan’s ministry of planning, and published by Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper—and the most sweeping Chinese assessment till date about the project—an internal review undertaken by Beijing’s Renmin University and shared with India today—both underline the enormous scale of the planned economic takeover, from roads and power plants to even agri­cultural projects.

PAKISTAN’S NEW OLD FRIEND

Today, Chinese companies are building and managing the country’s key transport networks, from national highways to Lah­ ore’s metro rail. China has bought a stake in Pakistan’s stock exchange. It is building Pakistan’s power sector, coal plant by coal plant, and will eventually, many experts believe, have a say in how much Pakistani citizens pay their government for electricity.