How China could help cool Pakistan-Iran tensions

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BEIJING: Beijing has said it was willing to mediate tensions between Pakistan and Iran, after the two countries traded deadly air strikes on militant targets on each other’s territory.China is a close partner of both nations, who enjoy extensive military and economic ties with Beijing and play important roles in its geopolitical ambitions.Here’s what you need to know about how Beijing could be uniquely positioned to mediate the tensions:Close economic tiesStraddling Central Asia and a vast territory from the Himalayas to the Persian Gulf, Pakistan and Iran are well-positioned in Beijing’s long-term plans to reshape regional geopolitics in its own interests.Beijing’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said Thursday that China was “willing to play a constructive role in de-escalating the situation” if both sides wished.”China commands influence and leverage in both capitals, and both countries expect a rising China to dominate Asia for decades to come,” Sameer P. Lalwani, a senior expert on South Asia at the US Institute of Peace (USIP), told AFP.”Beijing possesses some credibility to press the leaderships of both countries for cooler heads to prevail.”Pakistan is one of Beijing’s closest partners, and the two have long described ties as “deeper than oceans, higher than mountains, sweeter than honey, and stronger than steel”.The South Asian power also plays an important role in Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), earmarking tens of billions of dollars for a range of transport and energy projects connecting western China with Pakistan’s Gwadar Port — described as an “economic corridor”.Tehran and Beijing have also deepened trade ties in recent years, though Beijing’s efforts to pull Iran into the BRI have been complicated by sanctions and many of the details of a 25-year cooperation agreement signed in 2021 remain murky.China is Iran’s largest trade partner and a top buyer of the Central Asian power’s sanctioned oil — analysis firm Kpler last year said Chinese imports of Tehran’s petroleum had soared to a 10-year high, Bloomberg reported.”In some ways, Iran and Pakistan may be competitors vying for Beijing’s economic and strategic investments,” Lalwani said.

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