Abstract
The book titled “The China-Pakistan Axis, Asia’s New Geopolitics” written by Andrew Small is a study of Pakistan-China relations from both historical and contemporary aspects. It explains the underlying strategic, economic and political imperatives of China-Pakistan relations and how this relationship has significantly evolved over the last few years with more economic impetus recently as opposed to earlier focus on strategic dynamics. The author has examined nearly every aspect of bilateral relationship between Pakistan and China ranging from India question to Afghanistan, the United States, trade and nuclear cooperation. The fundamental argument of the book is that China, despite all the domestic challenges faced by Pakistan, will remain a credible partner for meeting its defense, economic and political needs albeit with a pinch of pragmatism. The Asia new Geopolitics in the title of the book reflects the theme that developments in China’s relationship with Pakistan will be a key factor in determining Asia’s strategic milieu in coming years. The book begins with a prologue which details the events leading to ‘red mosque’ crisis in Islamabad in 2007 where some Chinese nationals were briefly abducted by the mosque administration. The author therefore begins the book with highlighting challenges and stress moments in Pakistan China relations by detailing the incident and concludes that the ‘red mosque’ crisis was a watershed moment in PakistanChina bilateral history.