Tag: South&Central Asia

Pakistan Signs $4.8 Billion Nuclear Power Plant Deal With China

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Islamabad —  Pakistan and China signed a $4.8 billion deal Tuesday to build what would be the seventh Chinese nuclear power plant in the South Asian nation. The 1,200-megawatt project will be installed in the central Pakistani city of Chashma, where Beijing already has built four nuclear power generation units with a collective output of nearly 1,230 megawatts. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif oversaw Tuesday’s signing of the memorandum of understanding between China National Nuclear Cooperation and the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission. According to the agreement, the Chinese company will employ…

Cambodia Pumps Brakes on Plan for ASEAN Joint Military Exercises in South China Sea

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Phnom Penh, Cambodia —  Cambodia has thrown a diplomatic wrench in ASEAN plans for joint military drills in the contested South China Sea, in the latest test of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s balancing act between the regional bloc and Beijing. Indonesia’s military commander, Admiral Yudo Margono, announced on Thursday that his regional counterparts had agreed on first-ever joint military drills in September. Margono said the drills would focus on strengthening “ASEAN centrality,” while an Indonesian military spokesman cited the “high risk of disaster in Asia, especially Southeast Asia,” according to…

China Hosts Rare Counterterrorism Talks With Iran, Pakistan

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ISLAMABAD —  China, Iran and Pakistan held their first trilateral counterterrorism and regional security consultations on Wednesday in Beijing. “The delegations held detailed discussions on the regional security situation, particularly the threat of terrorism faced by the region,” said a post-meeting statement in Islamabad, which shared no further details. The Pakistani and Chinese foreign ministries said the three nations had decided to institutionalize and hold the meeting regularly. Senior Chinese, Pakistani and Iranian counterterrorism officials, each from their respective foreign ministries, led their teams at Wednesday’s dialogue. Analysts said Pakistan’s…

As Russia’s Influence Wanes in Central Asia, China and US Step In

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Washington —  China and the United States are putting a new focus on diplomacy in Central Asia, a region where Moscow’s long-dominant position has been diminished by its troubled invasion of Ukraine and resulting sanctions by G-7 nations. Beijing pledged nearly $4 billion in investment during a China-Central Asia summit last month as a sign of its continuing interest in building trade and security ties with Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. Days later, the United States promoted its engagement with these nations at an annual event in Washington, the…

Isolated Taliban Find Active Diplomacy With China

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Washington —  Among a small number of ambassadors who remain in Kabul, Wang Yu, Chinese ambassador to Afghanistan, appears the busiest. This week, Wang met with three Taliban ministers, two of whom are particularly shunned by Western diplomats — Sirajuddin Haqqani, the interior minister who has a $10 million terrorism bounty over his head from the United States, and Nida Mohammad Nadem, the higher education minister who has closed universities for Afghan girls. Like his counterpart in Kabul, Sayed Muhayuddin Sadaat, the Taliban’s ambassador in Beijing, maintains a busy schedule…

Afghanistan Restarts Direct Flights to China After 3 Years

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ISLAMABAD —  The Taliban have announced the resumption of direct flights between Afghanistan and China after a gap of three years, saying it would help boost bilateral economic and political relations. The first weekly passenger flight of the national flag carrier Ariana Afghan Airlines left Kabul on Wednesday for Urumqi, the capital of the western Chinese border province of Xinjiang. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the air operation in early 2020. The Taliban deputy minister for transport and civil aviation, Ghulam Jilani Wafa, hailed the resumption of the air service while…

Chiding US Impact, China Pledges More Investment in Central Asia

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washington —  During a two-day summit this week in its Silk Road city of Xian, China promised more investment, enhanced security and development assistance to Central Asian states Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, which thanked Beijing for building infrastructure networks in the region, boosting trade and understanding their challenges. “The world needs a stable, prosperous, harmonious and inter-connected Central Asia,” Chinese President Xi Jinping said. “China is ready to help Central Asian countries strengthen law enforcement, defense … and jointly promote peace and reconstruction in Afghanistan.” Addressing a group…

China Holds Central Asia Summit; Ex-US Official Urges Pragmatism 

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WASHINGTON —  China is scheduled this week to host its first in-person summit with Central Asian leaders starting one day before the Group of Seven nations convenes for its annual summit in Japan. Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to promote economic engagement and increased security ties with Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan during talks Thursday and Friday in China’s western city Xian. Beijing’s first summit with those nations last year, held virtually, came as China continued to build out its Belt and Road Initiative, a massive investment in…

India China Military Standoff Enters Fourth Year Without Sign of Thaw

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New Delhi —  A military standoff between India and China has entered its fourth year, but despite talks between their senior ministers and military commanders, there is no sign of a resolution to the dispute that has brought ties to their lowest point in six decades. Analysts say the volatility along their 3,500-kilometer-long disputed boundary appears to be widening as a new flashpoint has emerged. In December last year, soldiers from both sides scuffled in India’s northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh – a territory also claimed by China. The region…

China Completes Warship Deliveries to Pakistan as Military Alliance Grows

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BEIJING —  China has delivered two frigates to Pakistan’s navy, completing a four-warship deal inked in 2018, Chinese media reported, amid deepening military cooperation between the two nations in one of the world’s most complex geopolitical regions. The vessels — two Type 054A frigates — will be used to safeguard the seas of the China-Pakistan economic corridor (CPEC), state-backed Chinese newspaper Global Times reported late on Wednesday. CPEC is an ambitious infrastructure project that links Xinjiang in west China to Pakistan aimed at offering an alternative transportation route in the…