THE recent visit by the president of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank raised issues old and new for the government.

The new challenge was his emphasis on including India in the CPEC vision, thus opening up the doors of the corridor towards the growing economy to the east.

Previously, too, Chinese President Xi Jinpeng had mentioned this in his speech before parliament when he visited Pakistan. The idea should not be dismissed.

If the true promise of the corridor is to be realised, it will be necessary to include Pakistan’s neighbours — both east and west — in it. Of course, there are significant hurdles to this.

Take a look: Corridor plan to benefit regional states: AIIB chief

In Pakistan, the military establishment is reluctant to viewing India through any lens other than one of rivalry, and in India a right-wing government is similarly averse to responding to any overtures for talks and advancement of peace.

For now, therefore, it is enough to note that the proposal to open access to the economic corridor for India has credible commitment at the highest levels in China, and if there is any party in the world that can encourage a change in thinking in this country at least, it is the government in Beijing.

The old issue raised was the Diamer Bhasha dam. The AIIB chief was asked to provide the financing for investment in this mega project which Pakistan has been pursuing for many years.

Thus far all major multilaterals have balked at funding it, saying that it lies in ‘disputed’ territory and would, therefore, require India’s approval.

It is likely that the real reason for their reluctance lies elsewhere, and it is equally likely that the AIIB will also eventually refuse to fund this project.

For one, India opposes the project and is the second largest shareholder in the bank. For another, the AIIB is unlikely to want to commit to such a vast project with massive uncertainties hanging over it, for fear of being pulled into a quagmire so early in its career.

It would be better for the government of Pakistan to draw up a more realistic list of projects that they would like to see funded through the AIIB, and use the early years of the bank to build a relationship rather than go for broke with a proposal for a mega dam.

There is no shortage of infrastructure requirements in Pakistan, and realism shouldn’t be very hard to pitch.

Published in Dawn, October 10th , 2015

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