Pakistan Prime Minister, Premier Shahbaz Sharif in connection with the SCO Council of heads meeting has held a series of meetings and talks with fellow counterparts from various Central Asian Republics (CAR). Main purpose of such talks and meetings is to think of ways and means for entering into cordial diplomatic and trade links with each other. All sides agreed but they ignored the main hurdle – which lies in war-troubled Afghanistan which is in control of Taliban and these Taliban are reluctant to go along with the rest of the world and bent up on running affairs of the country according to their own interpretation of Islam.

No one can deny the fact that Afghanistan is surrounded by at least seven different countries. Most of these countries are Central Asians but beside Pakistan it also included China and Islamic Republic of Iran. Not only today when Taliban’s are in government but Afghanistan’s relations remain cordial with all these neighboring countries except Pakistan. It is ironic Pakistan is uncomfortable with Afghanistan whereas its blue-eyed Taliban are in power. Un-cordial  relations between the two neighboring countries might be a big issue before mighty junta’s at Islamabad and Kabul who remain in close links with each other, even each other’s dependents since mid 90’s.

Afghanistan remained attractive destination for traders from all Central Asian countries

Historically united India, especially its North Western regions including the present Afghanistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region of Pakistan remained attractive destinations for traders and businessmen from all Central Asian countries. All such trade and traveling links between CAR and united India remained intact till the beginning of 20th century but were affected with the Soviet socialist revolution. However, despite pressures, threats and opposition from British colonialism, Afghanistan has maintained all of its trade, political and diplomatic relations till the previous 90’s. After the dismantling of the Taliban regime, former President Hamid Karzai had restored these links in 2002. With little changes and short intervals, still Taliban  continue cordial and smooth trade links with all CAR and other neighboring countries including Islamic Republic of Iran. However, position of Pakistan is different as anger and tension between Islamabad and Kabul is aggravating day by day  due to certain issues including Taliban’s determination of settling internal and external issues through their own yardsticks and rejecting demands of surrendering or extraditing banned TTP elements to Pakistan.

Pakistan wants to enter into trade business links with different CAR through Afghanistan

Pakistan after re-empowering the Taliban in Kabul had initiated efforts for entering into trade business links with different Central Asian Republics. The move remained very fruitful when trade convoys exchanged and touched its destinations on both sides in 2022 and 2023.  Besides pulses, beans, fresh fruits and other commercial goods, Pakistan received dozens of containers loaded with coal and liquid gasses. Traders and consumers from Pakistan have jubilated exploration or restoration of such trade routes. But the trade links or imports and exports between Pakistan and CAR couldn’t be groomed further due to relations with Afghanistan. Torkham and Chaman considered most busy and important corridors frequent and prolonged closure, skirmishes and even encounters between security forces and  war of words between personnel and officers from both sides are now considered  routine matters, which are definitely affecting not only trade matters between the two neighboring countries especially sabotaging all efforts aimed at strengthening Pakistan trade and business links with CAR states.

Afghanistan playing key role in South and Central Asian economy  

No one can deny the fact that Afghanistan is playing a key role in the South and Central Asian economy. Almost all regional countries, its rulers, policy makers and economists are realizing these facts but they are helpless before US lead allies, engaged in efforts aimed at establishing its own or group influence in this particular region. Though Pakistan is considered the most important tool in implementation of US lead allies policies in the region, most of its people, people from trade, business and industrial sectors and even politicians are thinking on different lines – they want and prefer cordial relations with neighboring and regional countries. And for this purpose, the voice for peace and tranquility in Afghanistan has been raised unanimously by majority from the last four decades.

Pakistan proves itself as trustworthy ally of US

Pakistan’s mighty rulers – known as the military establishment – has proved itself as a trustworthy ally of the US. Besides playing a key role in the US lead alliance, Pakistan’s certain circles made and even made the best of exploiting the situation in its favor. Pakistan through its powerful military establishment is making efforts to establish its own influence in the region. In this respect, Pakistan is eyeing on prolonged conflict in Afghanistan. Like previous Peshawar – manufactured Jehadi leaders, now Taliban are also reluctant to compromise sovereignty and solidarity of Afghanistan – which is considered the main hurdle in strengthening of regional trade links, especially trade links of Pakistan with CAR states.

In the wake of meaningless involvement in prolonged conflict and influencing Afghanistan’s internal and external affairs, Pakistan must read on the wall. On the issue of Afghanistan, Pakistan has not only lost its control over internal security but its image at global level is also at stake. Instead, remaining mum over affairs of Afghanistan, Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif must initiate efforts for establishing friendship with Afghanistan. Policy makers in Rawalpindi Islamabad also need to realize that the US had and is playing like masters not as a friend. Instead of remaining loyal and obedient to masters, Pakistan must hunt for friends. Finding friends could be more fruitful in strengthening regional trade, especially trade links with CAR countries, which may be helpful in settling almost economic hardships and other issues.

China and Russia have held a joint military exercise focusing on cross-border terrorism, amid growing concern over terrorist attacks in Moscow.

The drill was held on 25 June in a river area near the Heilongjiang Bridge linking Russia’s Blagoveshchensk and China’s Heihe, the Chinese military’s official media outlet PLA Daily reported on Tuesday.

It was the first joint counter-terrorism drill between the neighbouring countries since Russia’s intervention in Ukraine.

It came just days after terrorist attacks in Russia’s southern region of Dagestan on 23 June, in which at least 22 people were killed in shootings at two synagogues, two Orthodox churches and a police station.

In March, more than 140 people were killed in an attack on a concert hall in Moscow, the deadliest terrorist attack in Russia for almost two decades. The Khorosan branch of ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack.

According to the PLA Daily, last week’s joint exercise simulated ‘terrorists trying to cross the border’ to launch an attack.

Chinese and Russian troops used aerial reconnaissance, maritime interception and land ambush to intercept and capture the terrorists during the exercise.

The exercise, which focused on improving intelligence sharing and operational coordination, showed the “firm determination” of both militaries to take effective measures to “combat all forms of terrorism, separatism and extremism” while jointly securing border areas, the report said.

The report also said that the two sides discussed further deepening border cooperation.

This is not the first time the two countries have held joint counter-terrorism exercises. In 2019, China’s People’s Armed Police took part in an exercise with the Russian National Guard in Russia.

According to Tass, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reaffirmed the two countries’ ongoing cooperation in the fight against terrorism, including on multilateral platforms, during a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in April.

Aiming to strengthen law enforcement cooperation

Last week’s joint exercise follows an agreement between Chinese and Russian leaders during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Beijing in May to strengthen cooperation in law enforcement and defence, including by expanding joint training and exercises.

The Chinese and Russian coast guards also signed a memorandum of understanding on maritime law enforcement cooperation in April last year.

In March, China and Russia organised a naval exercise with Iran focusing on anti-piracy efforts. China and Russia also held joint naval and air exercises in the Sea of Japan, or East Sea, in July last year.

While Chinese tech giant Huawei’s recent smartphone launches have been closely watched for signs of progress in China’s chip supply chain, the company has also developed expertise in sectors vital to Beijing’s vision of technological self-sufficiency, from operating systems to car software.

Chinese President Xi Jinping told the CPC Politburo last year that China must fight hard to localise operating systems and other technologies “as soon as possible” as the US restricts exports of advanced chips and other components.

OpenHarmony, developed by Huawei, is widely promoted in China as the “national operating system”.

“This strategic move is likely to erode the market share of Western operating systems such as Android and Windows in China as local products gain traction,” Sunny Cheung, an associate fellow at the Jamestown Foundation, a US defence policy group, told Reuters.

In the first quarter of 2024, Huawei’s own version of the HarmonyOS operating system overtook Apple’s iOS to become the second best-selling mobile operating system in China after Android, according to research firm Counterpoint. It has not yet been released on smartphones outside China.

“Harmony has created a strong core operating system for the future of China’s devices,” Richard Yu, president of Huawei’s consumer business group, said at the opening of a developer conference last week.

Self-sufficiency

Huawei first introduced Harmony in August 2019, three months after Washington imposed trade restrictions over alleged security concerns. Huawei denies that its equipment poses a risk.

Since then, China has stepped up its self-sufficiency efforts, pulling out of the main code-sharing centre Github and supporting a local version, Gitee.

China banned the use of Windows on government computers in 2014 and now uses mostly Linux-based operating systems.

Microsoft derives only 1.5 per cent of its revenue from China, its chief executive said this month.

Originally built on an open-source Android system, Huawei this year released the first “pure” version of HarmonyOS, which no longer supports Android-based apps, further separating China’s app ecosystem from the rest of the world.

Huawei said in its 2023 annual report that OpenHarmony was the fastest-growing open source operating system for smart devices last year, with more than 70 organisations contributing to it and more than 460 hardware and software products produced in the financial, education, aerospace and industrial sectors.

Visited by Reuters, Charlie Cheng, deputy director of the Harmony Ecosystem Innovation Centre, said the aim of making it open-source was to replicate Android’s success in eliminating licensing costs for users and provide companies with a customisable springboard for their own products.

“Harmony will definitely become a mainstream operating system and give the world a new choice of operating systems besides iOS and Android,” he said.

Google, Apple and Microsoft did not respond to requests for comment.

China’s previous efforts to build large open source projects have struggled to gain traction among developers, but Huawei’s growing smartphone market share and extra work to develop a broader ecosystem gives Harmony an edge, analysts said.

Huawei’s Yu said this month that more than 900 million devices, including smartphones, watches and car systems, were running HarmonyOS and that 2.4 million developers were coding in the ecosystem.

“OpenHarmony will need more time and iterations for these developers to feel more confident about working with OpenHarmony,” Emma Xu, an analyst at research firm Canalys, told Reuters, adding: “But the reputation, behaviour and trust that HarmonyOS has achieved will certainly have a positive impact.”