Iran-China Agreement

Naseebullah khan
Geographical strategists and foreign policy experts observe that when it comes to geographical strategy, Russia plays Chess, China plays go and America plays football. The analysis comes true when it comes to China. The BRI is a pertinent example of Chinese strategy. The recent agreement with Iran testifies it further. The 25 years agreement with a huge amount of 400 billion US dollars aims to promote strategic, military and economic interests of both the states, which could have innumerous effects on the region, and world politics. Although the draft of the agreement has not been publicized yet, the    media has been claiming that China will invest 280 billion US dollars in the Petrochemical industry, and 120 billion US dollar will be invested in transportation, military, agricultural cooperation, tourism, cultural exchange, banking, high-tech, maritime, and nuclear power sectors. It has also been in the news that China will get Oil and Gas from Iran with a discount of 12 percent. This agreement will help in increasing bilateral trade to 600 billion dollars in 10 years over 10 times bigger than the present trade. This agreement will be a win_win agreement for both countries. China will access energy at lower price while Iranian economy which has been shrunk due to low oil production by 9.2 percent after the US sanctions, will boost. Iran markets could flourish with manufacturing and Chinese expertise, which could increase its GDP, labour, agriculture, manufacturing, and services sectors. For China, though economic goals are vital. In the signed accord she will have long military advantages. China has been cementing its feet in the Indian Ocean as it already has presence in Gwadar, Haminbota of Srilanka, and Djibouti port. Once China gets access to Hurmuz Strait in Persian Gulf, her forces will have an eye on the US Navy Fifth Fleet Headquarter in Bahrain. It may prove a blow to the US interests. The Chinese can penetrate the middle eastern market through this agreement. It has established friendly relations with Saudi Arabia too by signing a 10 billion dollar energy agreement. On the flip side, the Saudi government also needs China’s investment for its 2030 plan. Besides , China wishes to link its port with Syrian Four Sea Strategy and further connect it with BRI in the Eastern Medeterian. Equally important is the QUAD factor. The alliance has been focusing on the encirclement of China and it would try to sabotage the Iran_Chian deal too. This agreement is a serious blow to the QUAD too. Once China occupies the Gulf, the Middle Eastern market, Indian ocean and fulfils energy demands, China will be in a better position to counter the QUAD. The growing role of China in the region will harm the strategic interests of the QUAD. For Pakistan, this agreement should be utilized for its own interests. Both this accord and the CPEC are part of the mighty BRI. Both should be incorporated for mutual cooperation and advantages. It could be further extended to Turkey, which could enrich the magnitude of this accord and the BRI. To sum up, China has been moving to occupy the world trade at a leisurely pace. The accord with Iran corroborates that sooner or later the Chinese presence in the Middle East markets and its hegemony in the Indian Ocean accelerate the actualization of its ambitions of a gigantic global economic power.