Sabena Siddiqi

Established in 1975, China-EU ties have always focused on finding common ground while setting aside minor differences. Having grown in importance over the decades, they are now the world’s second and third largest economies respectively, representing 25 percent of the world population and generating one third of global GDP. Right now, China-EU relations are second in global importance only to US-China bilateral relations.  China-EU relations have the advantage of having less baggage to carry. Though no major hurdles exist, there are some grey areas in this equation, e.g. the EU’s concern over  human rights  protection and fundamental rights issues in China. The EU has also conveyed that it would appreciate more reciprocity, transparency and non-discrimination on the part of China regarding foreign investment and business practices. Keeping China’s ‘market economy’ status on hold for now, a bilateral investment treaty is being mulled over to reduce barriers. Even th...

It was at the sixth summit meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in 2006, that Pakistan's President Musharraf addressed the congregation and expressed his wish that Pakistan become a full member of the SCO. Going on to highlight the geo-strategic location and geo-economic advantages of his country, he said his country was most suitably positioned to contribute to the existing objectives of the SCO.  Underscoring Pakistan's credentials as a future energy and trade corridor for the members of the SCO, he said, "Pakistan provides a natural link between the SCO states to connect the Eurasian heartland with the Arabian Sea and South Asia. We offer the critical overland routes and connectivity for mutually beneficial trade and energy transactions intra-regionally and inter-regionally." Based on geographical contiguity, the countries under the SCO umbrella have increased their standing in Asia's security dynamics, stabilized their respective parts of the...

Connecting Pakistan with China and the Central Asian states, the Gilgit Baltistan (GB) region is the starting point of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which is also the “flagship corridor” of China’s Belt and Road Initiative mega-project. Locked in by inaccessible terrain, the region was relatively unknown until it was opened up by the  Karakoram Highway (KKH)  in 1979. Constructed with great difficulty, it took Pakistani and Chinese engineers 20 years to complete the KKH due to the treacherous mountain ranges surrounding it. Apart from this, the region was famous for its heroic contribution to the Pakistani army – one of its most valiant units, the Northern Light Infantry, belongs to this region. Always considered a Pakistani region since the partition of the Indian sub-continent, it is surprising that the status of Gilgit Baltistan is being debated nowadays. The daily Report   Must-reads from across Asia - directly to your inbox Historical b...