In shocking news coming from Pakistan five people were killed near the ‘Chinese’ consulate at Clifton Block 4 in Karachi, Pakistan. According to the media reports armed gunmen who were three to four in number tried to storm the premises of Chinese consulate.
As per the reports, “A blast occurred near the compound which was soon followed by a gunfight after security forces challenged the suspected terrorists who are said to be three to four in number”. It further stated that the attackers are still inside the building while the police have isolated the entire street.
The attacks have come during the time when Pakistan is set to organize 10th edition of International Defense Exhibition and Seminar (IDEAS) 2018 at Karachi Expo Center. After the attack on Chinese consulate, the special relationship that Pakistan and China boasts of on International forums will soon be a thing of past.
China, being an all-weather friend of Pakistan has been backing it whenever the need arises. According to a report published in The Hindu, China had ‘advised’ Pakistan to shift Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed to another country. China’s suggestion to Pak came after multiple countries had put pressure to act against the JuD chief. Hafiz Saeed, according to the Chinese President Xi Jinping should be moved to some West Asian country. This suggestion was given to Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi by President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Boao Forum held in China in April 2018.
In 2015, during the time of then Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif, the strong bond of China-Pakistan was seen by the whole world as China used their veto authority to block India’s venture to pressure Pakistan for releasing Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi from jail, seven years after the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) attack on Mumbai on November 26, 2008. Three times before the 26/11 attack, China had blocked all the efforts to designate JuD as a terrorist group.
Emboldened by the Chinese support, Pakistan had now become more arrogant than ever before. The proof of which was seen in the month of September this year when Pakistan’s Supreme Court turned down an appeal filed by the federal government against an interim order of the Lahore High Court which permitted Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed’s Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and Falah-i-Insaniyat Foundation (FIF) charities to carry on their ‘social work.’
A two-member bench comprising of Justice Manzoor Ahmed and Justice Sardar Tariq Masood announced the verdict in favor of Saeed. The apex court of Pakistan endorsed the Lahore High Court’s decision which asked the government to stop putting its leg in between the matters pertaining to social welfare organizations of terrorist Hafiz Saeed. The court also gave consent to the legal activities of terrorist Hafiz Saeed’s organizations. Terrorist Hafiz Saeed celebrated the decision of apex court of Pakistan and termed the verdict as a “victory of justice and truth.”
It seems with this attack at the Chinese consulate, the Sino-Pak relationship will surely sour and it will now be interesting to see how China reacts to it!
