Xinjiang’s growing PoK links cloud China’s stance on Kashmir
Source: hindu
At sunset, the Pakistan Café on Seman Road here bursts
into life. Here, Pakistani traders from across this dusty trading town
gather for tea, sharing stories of their day’s work, all united by a
common ambition of grabbing a slice of this region’s growth.
“We
have great belief in what China is doing here,” says one trader who has
driven to Kashgar from Gilgit, in disputed Pakistan-occupied Kashmir
(PoK).
The ongoing transformation of this old Silk
Road town has left their spirits high. China is planning to build its
first Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in the west in Kashgar, hoping to
boost development in southern Xinjiang which has lagged behind the rest
of the region and has been the source of recent ethnic unrest.
Kashgar,
a town largely inhabited by Uighurs, the ethnic Turkic group native to
Xinjiang, is far removed from cities like Urumqi, the centre of Chinese
development in the far west. There are no skyscrapers here — a livestock
market on the city’s outskirts is where most business gets done.
That
will soon change, say local officials, with plans for an SEZ that will
transform the city into a regional trading port and export hub.
The
city’s future, Chinese officials and Pakistani businessmen say, is now
closely tied with that of its neighbour — Kashgar lies a few hours away
from China’s border with PoK.
China has stepped up
its investments in roads and infrastructure projects in neighbouring
PoK, while officials here say feasibility studies are under way into a
railway line from Kashgar through PoK. The plans have concerned India,
which has reminded China of the region’s disputed status. Chinese
officials, however, say their plans are “without prejudice” to the
dispute, which is “for India and Pakistan to solve”.
Contrasting
with the trouble Indians resident in Jammu & Kashmir face in
travelling to China, which has issued stapled visas to them because of
the region’s “disputed status”, Pakistanis from Gilgit-Baltistan and
other areas in PoK say they are “welcomed” to travel and invest in
Kashgar and face “no troubles”.
Kashgar even houses a
Pakistan China Business and Investment Promotion Council, mainly
represented by businessmen from Gilgit. Following recent violence in the
city, the local government here blamed terrorists trained in Pakistan
for carrying out the attacks.
There, however, appear
to be no new restrictions on travel, traders said, adding they faced
little suspicion from local authorities. A community of several hundred
Pakistanis has made Kashgar their home, with some traders marrying local
Uighur women and settling down here.
Others spend half a year in Kashgar, and move back home during the winter when travel becomes difficult.
Stapled
visas may be no obstacle, but the forces of nature are — travel along
the Karakoram Highway from Gilgit to the border town of Tashkurgan is
frequently disrupted by flooding and mudslides. This week, too, the road
from Kashgar was closed as a result of landslides.
“The
Chinese have done a fantastic job in widening the highway up to the
border, but on our side the road is poor,” said one trader from Karachi.
The Karakoram Highway currently remains closed for six months every
year, but is being upgraded to withstand adverse weather conditions.
This
Wednesday in Urumqi, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari told Chinese
Vice Premier Li Keqiang “it was important to re-establish the strategic
road link of Karakoram Highway (KKH)”, with Pakistan accepting a
proposal from the China Reconstruction Bridge Corporation (CRBC) for the
construction of 13 km of new road, as well as rehabilitating 22 km of
the highway. He said, “The widening and upgradation of Karakoram Highway
would further facilitate and enhance the trade and people-to-people
contacts,” reported the Associated Press of Pakistan.
The new plans mean Chinese officials here tend to overlook the region’s disputed status. A report in the official Xinhua news agency this week described Kashgar as being “near Pakistan’s northeastern border”.
Accompanying
Mr. Zardari during his talks with Mr. Li were Syed Mehdi Shah, the
Chief Minister of Gilgit-Baltistan who is on his second visit to China,
and Chaudhary Abdul Majeed, who Pakistan calls the “Prime Minister of
Azad Jammu & Kashmir”.
Farhatullah Babar, Mr.
Zardari's spokesperson, told reporters Mr. Li had “appreciated President
Zardari’s gesture of bringing with him the Chief Minister of Gilgit
Baltistan”.
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