ISLAMABAD — Beijing and Islamabad are close to a deal on setting up joint security companies to protect Chinese nationals working in Pakistan, after a string of deadly militant attacks threatened their multibillion-dollar investment ties.
Multiple sources have told Nikkei Asia that the mooted deal would see Chinese security personnel working inside Pakistan, which Islamabad has previously resisted despite mounting pressure from Beijing. The agreement could also lead to Chinese nationals being ferried around in armored vehicles.
Pakistan’s top investor China has grown increasingly wary about future deals after its citizens were targeted in a series of deadly attacks in recent years. Thousands of Chinese nationals are thought to be working on projects in the South Asian nation.
Pakistan is grappling with a rise in militant activity ranging from Islamists aiming to topple the government to separatists seeking to carve out a homeland in southwestern Balochistan, which is home to the port of Gwadar, the centerpiece of the $50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Beijing has pressed Pakistan to take more action to protect its citizens and pushed for armor-protected vehicles during recent negotiations on the second phase of CPEC, a key component of China’s globe-spanning Belt and Road Initiative.
“Under the proposed joint security companies’ framework, Pakistani personnel will be in the outer cordon, and Chinese personnel will be in the inner cordon for protection of Chinese nationals,” a source privy to the negotiations told Nikkei on condition of anonymity. “The idea is to ensure minimum contact between Chinese security personnel and common Pakistani citizens.”
A student lays a bouquet in memory of her Chinese teachers near the wreckage of a deadly blast outside the Confucius Institute at the University of Karachi in April 2022. © ReutersChina, which has linked future investments in Pakistan to cooperation on counterterrorism and better security, has been demanding since 2022 that Pakistan allow Chinese security companies to protect its citizens.
Islamabad repeatedly rebuffed that demand, although it desperately needs more investment for a shattered economy propped up by repeated bailouts from the International Monetary Fund .
Beijing is sweetening the pot for Pakistan with additional investments if it agrees to the joint security deal, including more funding for infrastructure, energy and transport projects under CPEC. Beijing’s negotiators have also hinted at a quick restart on the $7 billion Main Line 1 railway, the largest single CPEC project that would connect Pakistan’s northwestern Peshawar city to southern coastal hub Karachi through a more than 2,600-kilometer railway, Pakistani media have reported.
Historically, China has relied solely on host governments to protect of its people and investments.
Now “with its growing economic footprint across the world, Beijing is willing to assume a proactive role to ensure its overseas interests,” said Khuram Iqbal, an Islamabad-based counterterrorism expert and author of “The Making of Pakistani Human Bombs.”
But Chinese security boots on the ground will be a problem for Pakistan, warned Ayesha Siddiqa, a senior fellow with the Department of War Studies of King’s College London.
“Allowing Chinese personnel in Pakistan, who are not familiar with local culture and how to deal with people in Pakistan, could result in local backlash against them, which could be counterproductive for Chinese interests in Pakistan,” she told Nikkei Asia.
China has also proposed deeper counterterrorism cooperation with Pakistan to work against separatists in Balochistan and Taliban militants who have attacked Chinese nationals. The two countries, which have close defense ties, are already cooperating on counterterrorism through personnel training, joint military exercises and China-supplied military equipment.
“New [terms of cooperation] may include some formal arrangements for intelligence sharing and expanding the scope of an extradition treaty to include terrorism suspects,” Iqbal said.
source : asia.nikkei