Security of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects has become a key challenge for Pakistan in recent years. CPEC brought the highest amount of foreign investment in the country since its inception. CPEC has been vulnerable to sabotage attempts sponsored by hostile powers within the region as growing Pak China relations threatened the hegemonic designs of the west and their partners in South Asia. Taking the advantage of political instability within Pakistan since 2022, foreign sponsored militant organizations operating in parts of Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces tripled their attacks targeting Chinese nationals working on CPEC projects inside Pakistan. Beijing felt compelled to pressurize Islamabad to launch a full-scale military operation aiming to control rising militancy as Pakistani security apparatus appeared to have been failing to curb the attacks on Chinese nationals.

The projects under CPEC are of significant economic and strategic importance to both countries. This makes Chinese nationals and workers high-profile targets. There have been several attacks on Chinese workers in Pakistan in recent years, largely attributed to regional and political tensions. The Baluchistan region, where many CPEC projects are located, has a long-standing insurgency. Baloch separatist groups oppose Chinese presence, seeing it as an extension of Pakistani control and exploitation of local resources without fair benefits to the local population. Various other militant groups, including TTP, have targeted Chinese nationals. These groups are often opposed to the Pakistani state and its international partnerships. Pakistan has also been raising concerns backed by credible evidence regarding Indian sponsorship of militant organizations that target Chinese workers.

Islamabad approved Operation Azm-e-Istehkam amid an increase in terror incidents as “a collective multidimensional operation and national vision of the entire state system”. The operation aims at maintaining stability and consolidating the gains made during previous counter-terrorism operations, and represents a comprehensive approach to counter-terrorism and stabilization, focusing on both security and development to achieve lasting peace in Pakistan’s formerly conflict-ridden areas. This is not the first time that Islamabad has announced a kinetic operation to curb militancy. Military operations have been a regular feature since 2007. Where there is absolutely no doubt on the capabilities of Pakistani security forces, questions arise on the impact of a military operation in the presence of a ‘not so cooperative’ government in Kabul, and a politically polarized environment inside. More importantly, what will Operation Azm e Istehkam achieve that the previous military operations did not?

The difference between Azm e Istehkam and previous military operations is the comprehensive approach to counter terrorism. It aims to prevent the ‘resurgence’ of terrorists, an area past military operations including the much hyped ‘Zarb e Azb’ lacked to address. The question here arises that how will the resurgence be prevented? Will it be prevented through kinetic measures where a large military presence is permanently stationed at more turbulent areas. In this case, the whole effort might again become counterproductive like in previous cases. Until the root causes of extremism and militancy are not addressed in a comprehensive manner, this turbulence will only be subsided for the time being and not permanently. What we have seen in the past and did not learn from it is the fact that military operations have only increased militancy in Pakistan’s north west regions. They have been a cause of distress and displacement for the local populations, and the areas where the operations were conducted have witnessed destruction and collateral damage. Let us hope we do not go there again.

As far as the security of CPEC Projects is concerned, there are multiple players at play. Primarily, there are the dissenting Baluch insurgents who see Chinese projects as means of reinforcing Pakistan’s control on the region. Secondly, since Pak China partnership has strategic dimensions, the sponsorship of hostile powers spearheaded by India presents a huge challenge, to which Islamabad has had very few answers. As India’s soft power and influence has increased at the international level, Pakistan’s reservations, may it be for IIOJK, or for the sponsoring of terror activities in Baluchistan, are often ignored, even by Pakistan’s Muslim partners in the Middle East. A country that has a dwindling economy, whose survival is dependent on international lenders cannot make the international community to stand with it even for just causes. That is how real politik works. Security challenges will be much easier to tackle if there is political certainty, stability, acceptance, and continuity.