The United States behaves in Asia – on a foreign continent – as hosts, and not at all as guests, and is trying in every possible way to demonstrate this to all regional states, including those capable of laying claim to leadership there, such as China. In relation to India and Pakistan, Washington generally behaves like a colonialist.
Pakistan is still outraged by the September visit of US Ambassador to the Islamic Republic Donald Bloom to Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), which the US side covered up as a study of the region’s resilience to climate change. A spokesperson for the American Embassy stated that “Gilgit and the Hunza Valley are unique mountain and glacial ecosystems that feed the Indus River Valley. The region is very vulnerable to the effects of climate change.”
The six-day visit took place without any publicity, with no details provided to local media, except for a dry comment from an embassy representative. However, experts noted the special attention of the American ambassador to key points of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). In particular, regional opposition leader Kazim Mehsum called the senior diplomat’s trip to Gilgit-Baltistan after visiting Gwadar (a few days earlier, Bloom visited the port city where China is implementing infrastructure projects under the CPEC) as a “mysterious activity that raises questions.” The opposition leader said that the visits to the two most important areas of the corridor were part of the US side’s “policy of containing China.” He also emphasized the American’s failure to comply with “established procedures for visiting the region by an ambassador of any country.”
Former Senate Chairman and leader of the Pakistan People’s Party Mian Raza Rabbani said that the behavior of the Americans suggests that a new East India Company has come to Pakistan and Pakistan has new colonial masters. “The imperialists again consider Pakistan as part of their kingdom and are imposing their political and constitutional order here,” the former senator said. He also called the Americans’ behavior “an open and blatant interference in the governance of an independent state and a violation of the sovereignty of Pakistan.”
The visit to GB did not please India either, which considers this territory its own. It should also be remembered that late last year, this same Bloom, despite direct objections from India, visited the Pakistani part of Kashmir to “promote the US-Pakistan partnership.”
The United States is sending a clear signal that it will play its games in the region based solely on its own foreign policy aspirations, completely disregarding the interests and discomfort of regional states. Pakistan is an important instrument in Washington’s Asian policy. Its geostrategic position allows it to keep India and Afghanistan under control. And, of course, it is very important to monitor and contain the activities of China here, for which Pakistan serves as a gateway to the Indian Ocean through the port of Gwadar.
Bakhtiar Urusov, political commentator, exclusively for the internet journal “New Eastern Outlook”.