Islamabad - Pakistan hosted China's top security official and
staged war games with Saudi Arabia on Monday, strengthening ties with
two regional players as its relationship with the United States
plummets over allegations Islamabad supports insurgents in Afghanistan.
Ties
with Washington have soured over the last year, but Pakistani officials
and commentators have been talking up their country's relationship with
Beijing. Some have suggested Pakistan's emboldened alliance with China
could replace its strategic relationship with the United States if the
Obama administration decides to downgrade engagement with Islamabad.
China's
Public Security Minister Meng Jianzhu met his Pakistani counterpart,
Interior Minister Rehman Malik, who brushed aside questions on the
timing of the visit.
"Let's not talk USA here. I am here with my
friend China," Malik told reporters. "China is always there for us in
the most difficult moments."
His remarks echo an often-heard line
here about Beijing's attitude toward Islamabad, one that stands in
contrast with what officials perceive as a fickle relationship with
Washington.
Army chief Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kayani canceled a trip
to London where he had been scheduled to meet the UK defense minister,
according to a Pakistani official and the defense minister's office.
The official, who wished not to be named because he was not authorized
to speak to reporters, said the trip was canceled so Kayani could
handle the crisis after high-level U.S. security officials levied the
accusations against Pakistan's military-run intelligence agency.
Kayani met Monday with Meng, according to local Pakistani TV reports.
Prior
to his meetings in Pakistan, Meng said he would discuss ways to
"contribute to national security and regional stability" with Pakistani
leaders.
Beijing provides Pakistan with aid and direct foreign
investment, while Pakistan offers Beijing important diplomatic backing
in the face of Muslim-majority nations who might otherwise criticize
China's handling of its Muslim Uighur population.
China is
concerned that Uighur militants are living in northwest Pakistan
alongside al-Qaida-linked extremists. Pakistan says it has killed or
extradited several of those militants over the past few years, but
acknowledges that some remain at-large in the area.
China and Pakistan have long had good ties, in large part due to their mutual distrust of India.
While China fought India in a brief but bloody 1962 border war, Pakistan has fought its neighbor three times since 1947.
Relations
between Washington and Islamabad hit rock bottom after high-level U.S.
security officials alleged last week that Pakistani intelligence forces
had backed insurgents who attacked the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan and,
separately, wounded 77 American soldiers in a truck bomb this month.
Washington
is demanding that Pakistan launch an attack against those insurgents,
whose leadership is believed to be based in northwest Pakistan close to
the Afghan border. The U.S. has given Pakistan billions of dollars in
military and non-military aid over the last 10 years to try and secure
its cooperation.
Pakistani leaders have dismissed the U.S.
allegations and have shown no signs that they plan to act on the
renewed American demand.
As if to underline that Pakistan can
look elsewhere for defense support, the army took part in joint
exercises with forces from Saudi Arabia. The exercises took place close
to the town of Jhelum in Punjab province. An army statement noted that
Saudi Arabia was "Pakistan's special friend."
Saudi Arabia has
given millions of dollars to Pakistan and its religious clerics over
the past 20 years, seeking to cultivate it as a Sunni Muslim ally
against Muslim Shiite-led Iran. AP
