Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has accused Pakistan of playing a perilous “double game” between US and China, warning that Islamabad’s short-term transactional diplomacy could ultimately lead to a loss of strategic autonomy and internal instability.
Writing in a column for The Indian Express, Tharoor likened Pakistan’s current foreign policy to “a high-stakes trapeze act over a geopolitical chasm.”
According to Tharoor, Pakistan today finds itself caught between its “all-weather friend” China — which has invested over $70 billion in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) — and US, a “historically fickle partner” that Islamabad is courting once again.
He wrote that the contradictions of this balancing act were starkly revealed by two simultaneous developments: Pakistan’s endorsement of the Moscow Format declaration rejecting foreign military bases in Afghanistan and and its offer to allow American investors to build and operate a commercial port in Pasni, Balochistan.
The Moscow Format meeting, attended by India, Iran, Pakistan, China and Russia, concluded with a joint statement explicitly rejecting the establishment of foreign military bases “in and around Afghanistan.”
Tharoor described the declaration as a “direct pushback” against the possibility of US seeking to re-establish a military foothold in the region, after President Donald Trump expressed interest in regaining control of the Bagram Airbase.
Yet, Tharoor added that reports emerged that Pakistan’s Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir had pitched the Pasni port project to US officials. The port’s proximity to the Chinese-backed Gwadar Port and the Iranian border makes the move “a direct counter to Chinese influence in a vital location on the Arabian Sea,” offering Washington “a valuable economic toehold near a flagship Chinese project," he said.
Tharoor said that the “Pasni Paradox” encapsulates Pakistan’s dilemma — “trying to sell a non-aligned, anti-bases principle to its eastern and northern partners, while simultaneously selling exclusive, long-term commercial access to its Western partner in the very same geostrategic backyard.”
He argued that Pakistan’s policy is “driven not by shared values or enduring alliances but by a transactional calculus,” with its military establishment seeking immediate diplomatic and financial gains. “The military-run establishment is focused on immediate diplomatic gains and financial benefits, using its geography as its only real currency,” he wrote.
Tharoor described Pakistan’s relationship with Beijing as “structural,” rooted in decades of defence cooperation and CPEC investments, while its ties with Washington have always been “opportunistic.”
He warned that Islamabad’s attempt to play both sides — seeking Chinese military and diplomatic protection while wooing American investors — risks alienating both powers.
The Congress leader further cautioned that the move could inflame tensions within Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province.
“Pakistan’s current geopolitical dance is a short-term survival tactic masquerading as a clever diplomatic strategy," he said, adding that: "Too clever by half, Pakistan has potentially written itself a ticket to disaster."
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