The Security-Development Nexus of China and Tajikistan: Implications for Pakistan

Abstract

This paper aims to explore the operationalization of “security-development nexus” with reference to the Chinese foreign policy in Central Asia, with particular focus on Republic of Tajikistan, and assesses the strategic, economic and security dimension of this linkage for Pakistan. The principle of “developmental peace” (fazhan xing heping) is a tenet of Beijing's theory that infrastructure-driven economic modernisation could be the key to averting political instability and tackling non-traditional security threats. With remodelling of its economy, severe restraints on the fiscal budget and growing security challenges on its 1,357 km border with Afghanistan, Beijing has resorted to a hybrid approach of Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) infrastructure financing and specific bilateral and multilateral military operations. The escalation of the China-Tajikistan security-development nexus is a pivotal moment for strategic reconfiguration and opportunity for Pakistan. This study analyses how Beijing’s footprint in Tajikistan impacts Pakistan's ambitions as a Eurasian trade hub, its security coordination within the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and Quadrilateral Cooperation and Coordination Mechanism (QCCM), and its overarching foreign policy in an increasingly multipolar regional order.