Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao arrived in Pakistan on Friday armed with multi-billion dollar deals to reassure its ally that military and economic ties remain tight, despite China's warming relations with India.Wen, who flew in after a two-day visit to India, signed off on trade and business deals in areas of trade, health, education, agriculture, energy and infrastructure.
At a news conference following the signing ceremony on Friday evening, Pakistani Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said Pakistan expected $14 billion of investment in 36 projects identified by the Economic Cooperation Group (ECG), to be completed by 2016.
Another $5 billion of investment was likely in other projects, Karai said, and predicted commercial deals of $10 billion to be signed on Saturday at a Pakistan-China Business Summit.
In addition to that, China would also provide $400 million in soft loans for reconstruction from August's devastating floods.
"Both countries will use this visit to reaffirm the partnership," said Zhang Li, a professor of international relations at the Institute of South Asian Studies of Sichuan University in southwest China. "In dealings with South Asia, China tries to strike a balance between India and Pakistan, and this visit will be to reaffirm that position."
His current visit is to assure old friend Pakistan that China's improving ties with India do not come at Pakistan's expense.
Wen used more than $16 billion in trade deals and promises of political support to charm India into temporarily setting aside disputes with China.
Relations between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan remain tense over a host of issues, and China's alliance with Pakistan irks India.
Two-way trade during January-September 2010 between Pakistan and China stood at $6.2 billion, an increase of nearly 30 percent compared with the same period last year, according to official figures. The two countries aim to increase their bilateral trade to $15 billion by 2015.
"China still looks at Pakistan and India through the same lens," said Hamayoun Khan, an independent analyst and former China-Pakistan expert at the Institute of Strategic Studies.
"Whereas the U.S. considers Pakistan as part of Af-Pak and India as a separate country, which is not taken well in Pakistan."
ALL-WEATHER FRIEND
Pakistani diplomats like to refer to China as an "all-weather friend," whose needs -- strategic and economic -- fit in with what Pakistan wants and has to offer.
While China is India's largest trade partner, it invests seven times more in Pakistan and is helping it build nuclear reactors, despite grave misgivings in the West.
Zhang said that in his meetings in Pakistan, Wen might confirm that China continues to seek cooperation with Pakistan in civilian nuclear energy, but he did not think this visit would bring major announcements.
"The consultations and discussions over nuclear energy have been going on for some time. It's an incremental process. I think that at most, the two sides will confirm their willingness to cooperate, but nothing more than that."
Pakistan has long lobbied for a civilian nuclear deal like the one negotiated between India and the United States. But on Friday, U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter was not encouraging.
"The arrangement that we have with India was an arrangement that took many, many years and was very, very difficult," he told journalists. "We'll talk with Pakistan and we'll see how it goes. But this is not something that can develop overnight."
China wants to use Pakistan as a gateway to the Muslim world and as a new Silk Road for China's energy-hungry interior, as well as a balance against India's military rise.
Pakistan, in turn, plans to further rely on China for the bulk of its weapon systems, as a major investor for its ports and roads, and as a counterweight to American demands and conditions in the fight against Islamist militancy.
India, of course, will loom large during the talks: both Pakistan and China want to hem in India as a rising military power.
"In a way they give us (Pakistan), say, annually $2 billion," said analyst Khan. "What do we do? ... We're a pain in the ass for the Indians."
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