中美印关系中的巴基斯坦因素.pdfVIP

Harsh V. Pant The Pakistan Thorn in China—India—U.S. Relations At a time when Pakistan is under intense scrutiny about its role in fighting extremism and terrorism, the world has been watching to see how Beijing decides to deal with Islamabad. Despite Pakistan’s growing diplomatic isolation in recent months, China’s support has been steadfast, at least publicly. Two weeks after the May 2011 U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Yousef Raza Gilani went to China on a four-day visit to celebrate the 60th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries. Of course, there is much to celebrate in a bilateral relationship that Pakistan’s ambassador to Beijing has described as ‘‘higher than the mountains, deeper than the oceans, stronger than steel, dearer than eyesight, sweeter than honey, and so on.’’1 China was the only major power that openly voiced support for Pakistan after bin Laden’s assassination, defending Islamabad and emphasizing that the Pakistani government may not have known about bin Laden’s presence on its territory. During Prime Minister Gilani’s visit, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao affirmed that ‘‘Pakistan has made huge sacrifices and an important contribution to the international fight against terrorism, that its independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity must be respected, and that the international community should understand and support Pakistan’s efforts to maintain domestic stability and to realize economic and social development.’’2 Wen went on to state that Harsh V. Pant is Reader in International Relations at King’s College London in the Department of Defense Studies. He is also an Associate with the King’s Centre for Science and Security Studies an