The “Great Game” or “Tournament of Shadows” shackled Central Asia and linked regions in such a prison from which it still suffers today. Ironically, it was Arthur Conolly himself who first coined the legendary phrase, although it was Kipling who immortalized it many years later in his novel Kim. At the end, the ultimate prize of this great shadowy battle was British India, the golden bird. To this day, this shadowy battle continues to claim lives of many innocent civilians and serving the interests of powerful players.
In the ongoing New Great Game, Pakistan, once a pawn, now holds powerful position on the vast chessboard. With its strategic location, deep historical ties, and evolving alliances, Pakistan finds itself at the heart of modern struggle for regional dominance, and navigating complex relationships with neighboring countries like Afghanistan and Iran and relations with major powers like China, Russia and United States. Pakistan must learn lessons from the old game to avoid old mistakes and fully take advantage of current scenarios.
The vast chessboard on which this shadowy struggle for political ascendency took place stretched from the snow capped Caucasus in the west, across the great deserts and mountain ranges of Central Asia, to Chinese Turkestan and Tibet in east. The region is important because of its position at the heart of Eurasia. Most importantly the Central Asian region is full of resources like oil, gas and minerals like gold, zinc, silver lead and iron ore and crucial oil-pipeline routes. To achieve self-interest in the region, the major powers including Pakistan and India are playing their part, as the collapse of Russian rule in the region has tossed the area back into the melting pot of history.
In the arena of history, the Great Game started in early 19th century when Catherine the great started her move toward Caucasus and thrust into the Persian sphere of influence. Later, Tsar Paul in 1801 dispatched a full invasion force toward this direction but was called back on his death shortly afterward. Later tsar Alexander planned to join forces with Napoleon to march toward India and conquer it but this alliance didn’t last long as French entered the burning Moscow. French also planned to befriend Persia to use it as a route but British succeed in removing the threat by threatening shah and at the same time presenting gift and good deals to him.
By the mid of 19th century Central Asia was almost conquered by Russian. All the ancient Silk Road, cities were in tsar’s hand. The great walled city of Tashkent fell and after that Samarkand, Khivan, and Bokhara also. The Russian General Skobelev use to say I hold it as a principle, that harder you hit them the longer they remain quite. His principle surely worked and tamed the vicious Turcoman warrior tribes.
On the northern borders in Xinxiang in 1865 a man named Yakub Bey of Khokand came to lead the revolt in Kashgar. He became king of Kashgar and invaded Yarkand too. Kashgar, soon in 1877 was invaded again by the emperor and soon he forced Russians to leave Ili. The Russians also had a treaty with the Chinese, established after the Second Opium War, which allowed them to establish consulates throughout China. This agreement gave the Russians an upper hand in the region against British influence.
British to protect themselves from any attempt of Russian invasion started to strengthen their control on border regions such as Hunza, Dardistan, NWFP the Pashtun tribal region and Baluchistan. They dispatched researchers and agents in these regions so that they will later invade them.
Later the Afghan Amir who became king after the civil war and defeat of Durranis, had good relations with British and wanted their help to retake Peshawar province from Ranjit singh but British were not ready to help him because of good relations with Ranjit singh. Amir Dost Mohammad tried to lean toward Russians to acquire these old lands. This threatened British and 1st Anglo-Afghan war started (1938-1942). The war ended very badly due to resistant of local tribes and ended with a massacre at Gandamak.
Soon 2nd Anglo Afghan war started which was a success for British, lead by General Roberts. At end, treaty of Gandamak was signed in which the Afghan foreign policy was surrendered to British. Joint afghan border commission seated on Oct, 1884 in Sarakhs to create permanent border between Russia and Afghanistan, in which Pandjeh was a part of Afghanistan but Russian occupied the territory and afghan lost this region. They do not lay a claim to region. After some years Durand line was established to create a permanent border between Afghanistan and British.
After many years the 3rd Anglo-Afghan War began in 1919 after the assassination of Habibullah Khan, when Amanullah Khan ascended to the position of Amir. He initiated the conflict along the Durand Line to reclaim Afghanistan’s autonomy in foreign policy. The war concluded with the Treaty of Rawalpindi, in which British which recognized the Afghan government and granted Afghanistan full control over its foreign policy, and August 19 was designated as Independence Day for Afghanistan. Soon Amanullah Khan was overthrown by Habibullah Kalakani and exiled to British India.
The Great game ended officially with Anglo-Russian convention of 1907 and other factors such as Russo-Japanese war and 3rd Anglo-Afghan war. But this was not to last long. The Russian revolution ended all the treaties and war started again. In 1979 the Russian invaded Afghanistan to support their puppet government but faced serious resistance and fled. The disintegration of soviet in 1991 resulted into creation of eight countries. The withdrawal created power vacuum in region which invited many players to play the new great game.
The 9/11 attacks carried out by Al-Qaida without the permission of Taliban government resulted in American invasion of Afghanistan. American started many projects in region to strengthen their hold. The Americans introduced New Silk Road initiative to link central Asia and Afghanistan to sea through Pakistan. This project was not as successful as current Belt Road Initiative. American through these projects are trying to promote their values in Central Asia and trying to decrease the Chinese and Russian influence. Yet Chinese and Russian alliance in the region is way more powerful.
Moscow views the post-Soviet space as its sphere of influence, crucial to its aspiration of regional hegemony. Russia seeks to assert its dominance over these states to shape regional policies, limit external influence, and bolster its status as a great power. To this end, Russia employs various strategies, including leveraging institutions like the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), as part of a broader approach of ‘cooperative hegemony’. Russia does not tolerate the United States in the region, especially given the strained relations between the two countries following the annexation of Crimea, interference in US elections, cyber attacks, and the invasion of Ukraine.
On the other hand the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) consists of two main components: the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB). Pakistan serves as a key gateway to the sea for Central Asia and Afghanistan, enhancing its strategic significance in the region. Chinese relations with Central Asia have been growing, and the BRI’s ambitions extend beyond Eurasia, with broader global plans in mind. Additionally, China is actively involved in the energy sector in Central Asia, further solidifying its influence and economic footprint in the region. Meanwhile when it comes to economic cooperation in the region, China is in the best position to capitalize in Central Asia, and even in Afghanistan.
In current scenario Pakistan is extremely important in the region as it is the only connection to the sea whether US’s NSR or China’s BRI Pakistan is the only route toward the sea. Afghanistan will be connected with sea through CPEC that will lead to future stability of Afghanistan. Trade will boom in the region and Pakistan will play a crucial role in all this process. Pakistan shall use its position carefully to adjust relations with China and America. Power projects such as TAPI pipelines passes through Pakistan and connect central Asia to south Asia.
Secondly, all the players are seriously concerned about the extremism and Islamic radicalism that is nurturing in Afghanistan. There are serious threats of next 9/11 type attacks from Afghanistan. The organizations are located in Afghanistan and Afghanistan government does not have the resources to curtail such threats. China is concerned about East Turkestan Islamic movements of Xinxiang, and Russia and America are concerned about Islamic State (Daesh) and Uzbekistan Islamic movement. Pakistan as a hero of war on terror and influence in Afghanistan is the only cure to the curse of extremism. Pakistan should take full advantage of this “knight” position on the great game chess board. Pakistan has Pashtun population four times greater than Afghanistan and Pakistan shall use this demographic dominance for stability. The only solution to Afghan problem is creating a government with tribal consent as learned from three Anglo-Afghan wars and Russian and American invasions.
In nutshell, the Great Game has evolved into a new globalized Great Game that encompasses a wide range of conflicts and extends across the entire world. Pakistan is a link between world and Central Asian countries. Pakistan once a pawn in the great game now holds powerful positions in the new globalised great game. Now in this complex geopolitical landscape, Pakistan must leverage all these dynamics to secure its economic stability, military strength, and diplomatic influence in the region. The path to Central Asia’s future runs through Islamabad, and Pakistan’s active participation in this evolving game is not just an option – it is a necessity for its rise in regional and global affairs.
