Sino-Pakistan Relations 1961-1991: Search For Mutual Security

The strategic partnership between the People's Republic of China and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan has been remarkably an enduring relationship. Pakistan was the first Islamic, second Commonwealth and third non-Communist country which recognized the People's Republic of China on 5th January 1950 and established diplomatic relations with her on 21st May 1951. When they established their diplomatic relations both the countries had, and still have nothing common in history, culture, religion and politico-economic systems. They adhered to two different ideologies and later joined opposite security blocs created by the Cold War. However, instead of these contradictions, the two countries have maintained good neighborly relations which withstood the vicissitudes of domestic, regional and international environment.The aim of the thesis is to explain the Sino-Pakistan relations from 1961 to 1991, with emphasis on the common security concept for which the two countries tried their best to achieve during the said period. China and Pakistan maintained normal relations in 1950s. As newly independent states, both needed national security to survive in a competitive hostile environment of super powers'influence in the region. As a communist country, China leaned towards Soviet Union's bloc while Pakistan jumped into the capitalist camp under the leadership of the United States.Prior to the start of 1960s, many changes occurred at regional political stage which facilitated the way for cordiality of Sino-Pakistan relations. The Sino-Indian differences on their common border, Dalai Lama issue, Tibet problem and competition for the leadership of the Third World countries was the cause of their enmity which affected the Pak-China ties positively. The Pakistan's permanent nature of disputes with India, the ineffectiveness of the security pacts to stop Indian aggression, crack in the US-Pak relationship, the US assistance for India in the Sino-Indian rivalry, the Sino-Soviet rift, the Indo-Soviet warm ties and the Afro-Asian context were the further reasons for the push up of Sino-Pak relations. China and Pakistan peacefully resolved their mutual boundary's problem. They signed their first Air Agreement which allowed each other's planes to pass through their territories. They also signed their trade agreement. Instead, being a member of SEATO and CENTO, Pakistan supported One China policy and raised voice for the entry of the People's Republic of China in the United Nations. China replied by supporting Pakistan in its Kashmir problem and helped it during the Indo-Pakistan war of 1965.Despite the changes in domestic, regional and international level, their mutual relations never get a drastic set back in the period under study. With the passage of time, Sino-Pakistan relations touched new heights of cordiality. Upheavals made no serious effect on Sino-Pakistan ties. The positive trend prevailed over the negative in their bilateral relations. Pakistan made a way for China's rapprochement with the United States in the early 1970s. As a result, China supported Pakistan's stance during the latter's war with India in 1971. Even the China's normalization of diplomatic relations with India in the late 1970s and a hallmark visit of India's Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi to China in the late 1980s, did not cool down the Sino-Pakistan entente to a grave level. Their cooperation in defense field continued unaffected. However, China toned down its support for Pakistan on the Kashmir and other issues with India.The disintegration of the USSR also led some changes in regional settings where it affected to some extent the strong Sino-Pakistan relations. The Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan on 27 December 1979, gave further momentum to Sino-Pakistan friendship. This was a severe blow for the security of China and Pakistan. Theoretically, Neorealism better analyze the Sino-Pakistan cordiality due to the fact that need for security was a common interest between the two countries. The era under study and the concerned region was rich in power politics. The acute need for security saw the Sino-Soviet and US-Pak alliances. The counter alignments of Sino-Pak, Indo-Soviet and Sino-Pak-US gave rise to the balance of power strategies in South Asia. The geopolitics of the region also led the concerned states to offset the policies of each other, geo-strategically.From the issues at stake in Sino-Pakistan relations– and in accordance with the focus of the thesis: search for mutual security– the emphasis will be on, why the positive trend prevailed over the negative, and also the emphasis will be on, how the end of 1950s and start of 1960s made a way for the Sino-Pakistan relations. An attempt has been made to critically analyze the Sino-Pakistan relations and know the real nature of their entente.