The One Belt One Road (BRI) project and its consequent off-shoot CPEC have seriously challenged American hegemony and the USA intends to take all measures to halt the progress of these measures. After the cold war America emerged as the sole superpower of the world and Americans defined the world order as per their needs. Their agenda was simple to ensure that America remains the center of power, by all means, necessary and they made this a reality through bullying, exploitation, and bloodshed. It was American policy to interfere in matters of all countries whether allies or foes to ensure that their interest was protected at the cost of the coerced nations.
Wars, bloodshed, terrorism, and economic coercion have been the tools used by the US to maintain its power status. Now, China has emerged as an economic superpower, and the coalition of China, Russia, Turkey, and Iran are trying to challenge the American hegemony. The new world order led by Russia and China together with Pakistan, Iran, and Turkey has offered an economic partnership without interference or conflict. This ideology has gained popularity due to which China’s influence has grown across continents from Asia to Africa and even South America. Even Europe is under the economic influence of China and Europe’s dependency on Russian fuel is evident from the crisis created in EU countries after sanctions on Russia. Based on this America is using all methods at its disposal to address this growing threat.
USA has attempted to stir up contradictions between SCO members and has formed an alternative integration mechanism (C5 plus) “Greater Central Asia”. Taking into consideration Pakistan’s experience with America, Pakistan’s leadership has to distance itself from America’s platform. Whether it will be possible or not with the present regime needs to be seen. The USA has always played a negative role against CPEC and/or any regional connectivity initiative. If one considers the present situation when America is siding with India blindly, Pakistan has to reconsider its recent position, whether this policy is in the country’s interest to remain in the American group or remain connected with China and Russia through SCO. The situation demands that Pakistan should seek closer ties with SCO if it can afford it.
If it is possible, Pakistan should go hand in hand with China or SCO on all platforms like the UN and other international platforms. In that case, China, Russia, and other countries minus India should also try to help Pakistan to come out of the trap of IMF and other such institutions. It is also a fact that the USA tried to destabilize Kazakhstan and changed the regime in Pakistan. The violence in Kazakhstan has been controlled but in Pakistan, the situation is boiling and there is a divide in the society due to the regime change. Pakistan’s biggest problem, however, is the economic condition limiting Pakistan’s position to take an independent decision. In the present scenario, China’s interest, to some extent, lies with Pakistan and thus a huge amount of economic assistance is required from all SCO members to de-link Pakistan from the USA. China and BRICS countries have similar goals like IMF and China is in a good position to help Pakistan.
