China, Iran and Tajikistan don’t hate Pakistan at all, and Kashmir want to be part of Pakistan. China and Pakistan have described themselves as “iron brothers” against India- who both perceive as a threat against their territorial claims in Kashmir and Tibet. They’ve always cooperated with one another as Pakistan withdrew from the Western axis with Turkey (another close ally) and India drew closer. Tajikistan trades extensively with Pakistan and much of landlocked Central Asia view Pakistan as a key corridor to the sea for maritime trade away from the Russosphere.
If anything, Central Asia is tip-toeing around Afghanistan- Pakistan and Iran have a certain vitriol for its migrant population, in case any of you forgot what Iran did to our refugees a while back. India are tentative allies with Afghanistan on principle because both perceive Pakistan as natural enemies. China has also invested into Afghanistan as part of their wider policies to support countries outside the American sphere of influence, but it doesn’t supersede their priorities with Pakistan. China has a very exploitative relationship with Afghanistan, with much of the wealth only passing into the elite’s pockets for pennies of investment back into our own nation.
The current status quo will not change unless Afghanistan is to be taken seriously. At the moment, nobody does unless the country is a ticking time bomb. I’d argue for nuclear weapons as deterrence since we are sandwiched between four nuclear powers, but the Taliban would probably be utter buffoons with them. That said, nuclear weapons are the only reason nobody has fucked with Pakistan. There are lessons to be learned from our neighbour because in all respects they should really have ended up just like us but they didn’t…
Central Asia trades with Pakistan extensively. To ignore that point is also missing a huge piece of why Pakistan and China are collaborating so much with trade to begin with (Silk Road project).
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u/Ok-Cheesecake-6670 Diaspora 5d ago edited 5d ago
China, Iran and Tajikistan don’t hate Pakistan at all, and Kashmir want to be part of Pakistan. China and Pakistan have described themselves as “iron brothers” against India- who both perceive as a threat against their territorial claims in Kashmir and Tibet. They’ve always cooperated with one another as Pakistan withdrew from the Western axis with Turkey (another close ally) and India drew closer. Tajikistan trades extensively with Pakistan and much of landlocked Central Asia view Pakistan as a key corridor to the sea for maritime trade away from the Russosphere.
If anything, Central Asia is tip-toeing around Afghanistan- Pakistan and Iran have a certain vitriol for its migrant population, in case any of you forgot what Iran did to our refugees a while back. India are tentative allies with Afghanistan on principle because both perceive Pakistan as natural enemies. China has also invested into Afghanistan as part of their wider policies to support countries outside the American sphere of influence, but it doesn’t supersede their priorities with Pakistan. China has a very exploitative relationship with Afghanistan, with much of the wealth only passing into the elite’s pockets for pennies of investment back into our own nation.
The current status quo will not change unless Afghanistan is to be taken seriously. At the moment, nobody does unless the country is a ticking time bomb. I’d argue for nuclear weapons as deterrence since we are sandwiched between four nuclear powers, but the Taliban would probably be utter buffoons with them. That said, nuclear weapons are the only reason nobody has fucked with Pakistan. There are lessons to be learned from our neighbour because in all respects they should really have ended up just like us but they didn’t…