00:00Let's turn to South Asia now.
00:05China's foreign minister is wrapping up his multi-nation tour.
00:08He visited India first, then he flew to Kabul in Afghanistan and finally landed in Pakistan.
00:13Wongi was welcomed at the airport by his counterpart, his Pakistani counterpart, Foreign Minister Ishak Dar.
00:20Islamabad gave him a red carpet welcome.
00:22Take a look at this.
00:30This morning, they held talks.
00:57Pakistan says both global and regional issues were discussed.
01:01They also focused on bilateral investments, specifically CPEC 2.0.
01:06Now, CPEC stands for China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, CPEC.
01:12It's a multi-billion Chinese project in Pakistan.
01:15CPEC has been stalled since 2023, but maybe not for long,
01:20because China and Pakistan are unveiling a new phase of CPEC, CPEC 2.0.
01:25We'll come to that in a bit.
01:27But first, the messaging in Islamabad.
01:29Wongi's travel plan makes one thing quite clear.
01:32China may reset ties with India.
01:33China may sweet-talk India.
01:35But China will never abandon Pakistan.
01:37The foreign minister was quite open about it.
01:39He said Pakistan was his most important stop.
01:43Indeed, I visited three countries.
01:47Pakistan is the final stop.
01:51And the most important stop.
01:55And what did Pakistan say?
02:00Ishak Dar was all praised for China.
02:02He said the China-Pakistan relationship was of paramount importance.
02:05As a trusted friend and strategic partner, China is mainstay and cornerstone of Pakistan's foreign policy.
02:15Our bilateral friendship occupies paramount importance.
02:19We would continue to maintain our strategic communication and coordination
02:24and further deepen and expand our ironclad friendship and brotherhood
02:29as envisioned by our leadership and peoples of Pakistan.
02:33Now, this raises two questions.
02:35One, where is the China-Pakistan relationship at?
02:38And two, where does that leave India?
02:42This is an interesting period for China-Pakistan ties.
02:45We'll start from 2017.
02:47That's when Donald Trump first became president.
02:50Almost immediately, he attacked Pakistan.
02:53He accused them of a double game on terrorism.
02:56Then came Joe Biden.
02:57And things went from bad to worse.
03:00Biden never hosted or met Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif.
03:03All he did was write a letter to him.
03:06So for eight years, Pakistan's ties with the U.S. have weakened.
03:10And in this time, they moved closer and closer to China.
03:13Until now, that is.
03:15Trump 2.0 has allied itself with Pakistan again.
03:18The president even hosted their army chief, Aasem Muneer.
03:22So now Pakistan has to balance.
03:24On one side, it's reset with Washington.
03:27On the other side, it's Iron Brotherhood with Beijing.
03:31Can they keep both sides happy?
03:33So far, they've managed to do it.
03:34China is pushing on with the second phase of CPEC.
03:36It will formally be launched later this month.
03:40That's when Prime Minister Sharif will visit China for a regional summit.
03:43CPEC 2.0 will expand into new sectors like agriculture, mining and digital economy.
03:49And this expansion is despite security concerns.
03:53Pakistani terror groups have been targeting Chinese CPEC assets.
03:56Dozens of Chinese workers have been killed.
03:59Yet Beijing is pushing on.
04:01China highly commends Pakistan's tireless efforts and immense sacrifice in combating terrorism.
04:09China firmly believes that Pakistan's counter-terrorism operation will secure the ultimate victory.
04:15So China has concerns, but it's not abandoning Pakistan.
04:20Which brings us to the second question.
04:22Where does that leave India?
04:24Frankly, same as before, the China-Pakistan nexus was never a secret, but recent events revealed its depth.
04:30I'm talking about Operation Sindhu.
04:32Pakistan deployed Chinese weaponry against India.
04:35Beijing also gave satellite inputs to Pakistan about India's troop movements, about our air defenses and India's logistics.
04:43If another battle breaks out, China will likely do the same because they see Pakistan as a pawn.
04:49A means to keep India occupied on the western frontier.
04:55Frankly, it's a very complicated web.
04:57China supports Pakistan against India.
04:59India is now resetting ties with China.
05:01China is a rival of America.
05:03America is supporting Pakistan.
05:04And Pakistan is best buddies with China.
05:07Like I said, it's very complicated and a very fluid situation.
05:11Out of these four countries, three are standing on their own feet.
05:16That's America, China and India.
05:20We don't need others.
05:22We are large economies and militaries.
05:24But Pakistan, their future depends on this balancing act.
05:28One mistake and it could all blow up on their face.
05:37One mistake and it could all blow up on their face.
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