Notes

Pakistan and China are celebrating 60 years of friendship in 2011. After the Abottabad fiasco, when the Pakistani establishment found itself cornered and our Army chief went about making 'insensitive' remarks, China was the only country that stood by it. And China probably is the only country that finds support both among the general populace as well as the corridors of power -political and military - in Pakistan.

It is a match made in heaven - a common rival (India), heavy arms trade and investment ties - and free, unrestrained rhetoric whenever the other one is in trouble. India - Russia, Pakistan - China : these countries have ties which are remnants of the era of Cold War, not much trade to support them except for arms trade and are still going strong more due to nostalgia and time-tested trust rather than the money-denominated, economy-and-resource-dominated relationships of today. Which is good, for it is difficult to find such strong relationships between countries without a common ethnic origin or language or religion. In fact, in Asia, common origin (India-Pakistan), language or religion(some countries in the Middle East) never seem to be factors that foster unity. It is the rule of the attraction of the opposite poles that seem to work in the largest continent of planet earth. Look at it - Pakistan, an Islamic republic with an Urdu-speaking population and a free, capitalist economy has its strongest ally in China, a Communist nation of Mandarin speaking 'kafirs'. Geography decides your destiny and allies in Asia. Palmistry in humans gets scaled to boundary-line reading for nations. And unsurprisingly, the latter is more scientific and accurate.

Allies of China make an interesting study. Of course, all countries make allies to maximise their interests - strategic or economic, but China stands out because its most trustworthy allies are 'failed states' or boundary-line cases. China does not have an ally stronger than itself or even one that comes close to matching it. The psychology behind the idea of the 'celestial kingdom' still seems to be alive in the land of the dragons.

Pakistan is a country that could have become a developed country by now if its military-political-executive leadership were not so preoccupied with Kashmir and India. A nation of fertile fields and beautiful valleys, home to ancient universities and breathtaking mountains . But, alas, that was not to be! This is the fate of the nations who put their military in command. Granted, armymen may be more patriotic, but borrowing from Pareto, the ruling elite ought to have both foxes and lions in it. Running a country is more than putting up a show as the politicians in Pakistan are doing now. Pasha may speak of rehearsals, but a country which cannot protect its own military establishments from being attacked by militants, doesn't sound like a foe to be scared of. In fact, I bet that the Indian security agencies are more worried about the militant groups over which ISI has no control and the rogue elements in the Pakistani army than the actual strength of its real defence forces.
While dealing with Pakistan, India always faces a dilemma. Everyone knows that it is the army which calls the shots in Pakistan. Yet our civilian leaders can only to the civilan leaders there. Which really is a futile exercise in a country where coups are as common as regular monsoon is in India - you cannot be sure it will come but there is always a probabilty that it will.
The only way that Pakistan can redeem itself is by curbing the reach of its army and electing to power a strong, clean, responsive and responsible democratic government. Which seems improbable at the moment. Still, we can hope. Bihar did it. Will Pakistan follow?