WASHINGTON: China will most likely seek to establish a military base in Pakistan, says a Pentagon report, which also notes that despite its closeness to Islamabad Beijing tries to maintain good ties with India as well.

In its annual assessment of China’s military capabilities to Congress, the US Defence Department warned on Tuesday that China would build more overseas bases after establishing a facility in the African nation of Djibouti.

The 97-page report — “Military and security developments involving the People’s Republic of China, 2017” — makes several references to Pakistan and highlights the defence cooperation between Islamabad and Beijing.

“China most likely will seek to establish additional military bases in countries with which it has a longstanding friendly relationship and similar strategic interests, such as Pakistan, and in which there is a precedent for hosting foreign militaries,” the report notes. Pakistan hosted a US listening post near Peshawar from 1959 to 1970 but closed it under Soviet pressure.

But the Pentagon report also says that China’s overseas military basing may be constrained by the willingness of countries to support Chinese military presence in one of their ports.

The report notes that as China’s regional and international interests grow more complex, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) will also expand its international engagement, especially in the areas of peacekeeping, counterterrorism and joint exercises.

Pentagon points out that in August 2016, Chief of China’s Joint Staff Department Fang Fenghui participated in the inaugural meeting of the Quadrilateral Cooperation and Coordination Mechanism, a military counterterrorism pact among Afghanistan, China, Pakistan and Tajikistan. During a March 2016 visit to Afghanistan Mr Fang said that terrorism posed a threat to China’s One Belt, One Road Initiative in the South and Central Asian region.

Underlining close defence ties between China and Pakistan, Pentagon notes that in May 2016, a nuclear-powered attack submarine made a port call in Karachi, during a visit by the commander of the Chinese navy. This was China’s first port call in South Asia by a nuclear submarine.

“These submarine patrols demonstrate the Chinese navy’s emerging capability both to protect China’s sea line of communications and to increase China’s power projection into the Indian Ocean,” the report adds.

The report points out that from 2011 to 2015, China was the world’s fourth largest arms supplier, with more than $20 billion in sales. Of this, $9bn was to Asia-Pacific countries, primarily Pakistan. Sub-Saharan Africa was China’s second largest regional arms market. “China’s ability to remain among the world’s top five global arms suppliers hinges largely on continued strong sales to Pakistan and demand for its armed UAVs.”

It notes that last year, China signed an agreement with Pakistan for the sale of eight submarines. The first four will be built in China, with the remaining four in Pakistan. Other major Asia-Pacific customers of Chinese military equipment include Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Published in Dawn, June 8th, 2017