China has once again made its stand clear as far advocating India’s case for NSG club entry the reasons are obvious. The obvious reason is over $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the future defence purchases by Pakistan, which is the largest buyer of Chinese hardware. China’s stand has been that the NSG is an important part of the non-proliferation regime. This regime is built upon the NPT following a long time consensus by the international community. China is part of 48-member NSG group. India’s case is being pressed by the US and other influential countries based on its record in non-proliferation and the India-US civil nuclear accord. China’s call for talks among NSG members about “India and other Non-NPT” members indicate that Beijing may push for the case of Pakistan, which in the past has been accused of passing of nuclear technology to Iran and other countries. The CPEC has been projected as China’s most ambitious overseas project and due to the recent complex regional environment there has been some hurdles in its smooth move forward. The recent development especially in Kashmir has made Chinese apprehensive about the future of the mega connectivity project. It is unlikely to be plain sailing for China and Pakistan in their attempts to push forward the CPEC due to the present challenges. Chinese feel the corridor linking China’s northwest Xinjiang province to Pakistan’s Gwadar Port ‘passes through some turbulent regions, Kashmir included’ and reports are that Pakistan has deployed 14,503 security guards to protect 7,036 Chinese nationals working on the project. The recent developments would surely put pressure on Islamabad and force it to take security issues more seriously. There are signs that China wants to shift its attention to funding infrastructure in Vietnam and other South East Asian countries which are politically more peaceful in order to soften their stance on the South China Sea dispute. Besides, Beijing wants to extend its One Belt, One Road programme to other countries instead of depending on Pakistan. The disputed Kashmir as has its own geo-strategic repercussion for Pakistan as it cannot donate land to China in Pakistan occupied Kashmir. China, shall be making a big mistake, if it sinks billions on this project.
