BETWEEN LIGHT AND DARKNESS: PAKISTAN'S ENERGY DREAMS IN THE BELT AND ROAD INITIATIVE

Jorge Manuel Tavares Da Silva^*

• Universidade da Beira Interior Departamento de Sociologia, Covilhã, Portugal

For over half a century, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (IRP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) have maintained a long-term partnership, reaching a new height with the launch of the "Belt and Road Initiative" (BRI) and the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). From 2013 to the present, Chinese investment in Pakistan's energy sector has driven development, yet also exposes structural asymmetries that limit country’s sovereign decision-making capacity. Pakistan’s privileged geographical position in the region, which facilitates Beijing’s connectivity projects, is increasingly undermined by the subordination of domestic priorities to an external donor, namely China. In certain ways, this logic aligns with the dependency theory perspective, highlighting persistent patterns of vulnerability and asymmetry in the global arena. This structural dependence raises concerns about Islamabad’s strategic autonomy, economic development, and long-term sovereignty. By studying the emergence of new irregular relations within South–South dynamics, this article challenges the conventional North–South framework, thus expanding the analytical scope of International Relations. We argue that this relationship exemplifies a new form of imperialism, evident in the unequal interactions between strong and weak powers within the developing world. This contribution is exemplified through the analysis of the strategic dilemmas arising from Chinese support to Pakistan’s energy sector, through the lens of a realist approach, seeking to determine to what extent these investments strengthen state sovereignty or deepen its exposure to contemporary forms of subordination.