News Analysis U.S. interests in Pakistan include maintaining stability in South Asia, preventing war between India and Pakistan, containing international terrorism launched from Afghanistan, as well as countering the Chinese regime’s expanding influence and alliance building. Once the primary U.S. ally in the region, as Pakistan sinks deeper into China’s orbit, U.S.-Pakistan relations become more and more ambiguous. Pakistan is also slipping deeper into debt and regional stability is threatened. Chinese leader Xi Jinping first announced the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) during a 2015 visit to Islamabad. He spoke of a long-term vision for Pakistan’s development, pledging between $40 and $60 billion of investments. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in 2013, before CPEC started, Pakistan owed $4.1 billion to China, roughly 9 percent of the country’s foreign debt. By 2021, foreign debt stood at $90.12 billion, with $24.7 billion owed to China. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has seized on …