Sabena Siddiqi

US-China trade war would be mutually destructive By  SABENA SIDDIQUI   MARCH 28, 2018 6:58 PM (UTC+8) 39 0 Triggering fears of an extended trade war between the world’s two largest economies, US President Donald Trump recently announced plans to impose tariffs on $60 billion worth of Chinese goods. Swinging into effect after 60 days, the list of about 1,000 products is still being finalized for tariffs of 25%, and new investment restrictions are also being considered on Chinese companies. As stock markets and indexes began to tumble, most economists edgily expected a rapid escalation after this impulsive attempt to reduce the trade deficit between China and the US. In a tit-for-tat response, Chinese ambassador to the US  Cui Tiankai stated, “We are not afraid of [a trade war] . . . We will certainly fight back and retaliate. If people want to play tough, we will play tough with them and see who will last longer.” The daily Report   Must-reads...

Preparing for the next SAARC Summit By Sabena Siddiqui 0   Comment(s) Print   E-mail China.org.cn, March 23, 2018 Adjust font size:  After a two-year interval, it is now vital that the revival and re-grouping of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) happens as soon as possible for regional re-integration.  Having been relegated to the backseat since India's refusal to participate in the SAARC Summit in 2016 which was to be held in Islamabad, Pakistan, it has been given much less attention than it deserves. Now it is the right time to re-assess the options for SAARC and expedite the pending process. Pakistan still has to host the next summit and to announce a new date for later this year. Formed in 1985, the SAARC Charter requires the respective heads of state or government of all the member countries to meet once a year. This usually transpires every 18 months unless one of the eight members refuses to attend the meet.  In ...

Turkmenistan Pipeline of Peace underway By Sabena Siddiqui 0   Comment(s) Print   E-mail China.org.cn, March 24, 2018 Adjust font size:  Sitting on the world's fourth largest natural gas reserves, Turkmenistan has finally kicked off the long-awaited TAPI pipeline project connecting Central Asia right down to South Asia via Afghanistan.  Consisting of four countries, Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India, the TAPI project has been pending since the 1990s as instability in Afghanistan made any crossover route impossible. Stretching over a distance of 1800 kilometres to supply 33 billion cubic meters of natural gas every year from the world's second largest gas field Galkynysh to Fazilka near Pakistan's border with northern India, TAPI serves to open up the rich energy reserves of Central Asia to the region and beyond to Eurasia.  Further down the road, it links up to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, one of the key corridors of the Belt and...

Can the SCO Bring India and Pakistan Together? With multilateral counterterrorism exercises, the SCO may help bridge the gap between Islamabad and New Delhi. By  Sabena Siddiqi February 10, 2018 Since Pakistan and India’s formal induction into the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) last year, the group now represents 40 percent of the world’s population and almost 20 percent of its GDP. Bringing these two South Asian neighbors into the folds of the SCO in June 2017 initially gave rise to conjecture as to whether they could coexist. On a positive note, in the SCO the participation of all member states in its activities is mandatory so interaction and dialogue is unavoidable. Considering the tense relations between India and Pakistan, it should be interesting to see them participating in multilateral military exercises under the auspices of the SCO, as the memorandum of obligations makes joint military exercises compulsory. The particip...

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