DOHA: In an increasingly polarized Muslim world, Pakistan’s strategy of maintaining diplomatic relations with countries in the Middle East no longer works.
In a break with the past, where the Gulf countries balanced their relations with Pakistan and India, they are now seen moving towards New Delhi and distancing themselves from Islamabad, according to an Al Jazeera report.
Pakistan, on the other hand, is seen closing in on Turkey and Malaysia, two countries that Saudi Arabia views as challenging to its stronghold within the Muslim world, according to foreign policy analysts Abdul Basit and Dr. Zahid Shahab Ahmed writing in Al Jazeera.
The relationship between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia went haywire last month when Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi it openly rebuked the kingdom for its lack of support for Islamabad’s interests on the Kashmir issue.
During a television program, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan Shah mahmud Qureshi made a statement that upset the Saudi “older brother”, saying that Pakistan would be “forced” to “call a meeting of Islamic countries that are willing to support us on the Kashmir issue.”
In Basit and Shahab Ahmed’s article, the Pakistani Foreign Minister’s comment was not well received by Riyadh and was seen as a veiled threat to invent a new side against the Saudi-dominated Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
In retaliation, the kingdom was quick to request the sudden repayment of a $ 1 billion loan granted to Pakistan in November 2018, which was renegotiated just six months ago. In addition to this, it also refused to renew an oil deferred payment scheme that was part of the same loan that was made to Islamabad when the country was trying to avoid a possible sovereign default.
After Riyadh raised the bar, Pakistan was forced to back down. Thereafter, Qureshi, trying to save face, refuted reports that ties have been strained between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia in recent weeks. “The kingdom has not asked Islamabad to repay its loan or suspended oil supplies to Pakistan,” Qureshi was quoted as saying by The News International.
As a result of Qureshi’s pushback, Pakistani journalists criticized the Foreign Minister, saying he contradicted comments he had made earlier.
Soon after, Pakistan went into damage control mode and had to dispatch the Pakistani Chief of Staff Qamar Javed Bajwa to Riyadh. However, the visit proved futile as the Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) did not meet with Bajwa, and they stayed to meet with the Saudi Deputy Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz.
According to the Al Jazeera report, “The latest diplomatic dispute between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan must be seen in the larger context of recent strategic realignments in the Middle East and the Muslim world.”
“For some time, Pakistan has been struggling to maintain its traditional policy of maintaining neutral relations with rival Muslim powers. While Islamabad is concerned about deepening strategic and economic cooperation between archrival India and a group of Arab-led states. for Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, Riyadh is equally frustrated by Pakistan’s proposals towards Muslim-majority states that it considers hostile, such as Turkey, Malaysia and Qatar, “he said.
The Gulf countries are now visibly seen moving towards India and distancing themselves from Pakistan. The tides are turning in India’s favor. An example is MBS’s visit to South Asia in February 2019.
During his tour, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia made the unprecedented decision to visit India directly after Pakistan. After signing deals worth $ 20 billion with Pakistan, MBS said it expects Riyadh’s investments in India “to exceed $ 100 billion in the next two years.”
Saudi Arabia is not alone. After India’s August 2019 move to repeal Article 370, Pakistan called on Arab states to speak up. However, its Gulf partners, including Saudi Arabia, failed to put up a front against India. Riyadh even told India that he understands “India’s approach and actions in Jammu and Kashmir.”
Amid the strategic readjustment in the Middle East, political analysts say that relations between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are sure to turn agitated, as it appears the former will continue to draw closer to New Delhi. Islamabad, for its part, will have to maintain its alliances with several Middle Eastern countries and return to the sphere of Saudi Arabia.
On video: Gulf states openly approach India, Pakistan’s house of cards in trouble
In a break with the past, where the Gulf countries balanced their relations with Pakistan and India, they are now seen moving towards New Delhi and distancing themselves from Islamabad, according to an Al Jazeera report.
Pakistan, on the other hand, is seen closing in on Turkey and Malaysia, two countries that Saudi Arabia views as challenging to its stronghold within the Muslim world, according to foreign policy analysts Abdul Basit and Dr. Zahid Shahab Ahmed writing in Al Jazeera.
The relationship between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia went haywire last month when Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi it openly rebuked the kingdom for its lack of support for Islamabad’s interests on the Kashmir issue.
During a television program, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan Shah mahmud Qureshi made a statement that upset the Saudi “older brother”, saying that Pakistan would be “forced” to “call a meeting of Islamic countries that are willing to support us on the Kashmir issue.”
In Basit and Shahab Ahmed’s article, the Pakistani Foreign Minister’s comment was not well received by Riyadh and was seen as a veiled threat to invent a new side against the Saudi-dominated Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
In retaliation, the kingdom was quick to request the sudden repayment of a $ 1 billion loan granted to Pakistan in November 2018, which was renegotiated just six months ago. In addition to this, it also refused to renew an oil deferred payment scheme that was part of the same loan that was made to Islamabad when the country was trying to avoid a possible sovereign default.
After Riyadh raised the bar, Pakistan was forced to back down. Thereafter, Qureshi, trying to save face, refuted reports that ties have been strained between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia in recent weeks. “The kingdom has not asked Islamabad to repay its loan or suspended oil supplies to Pakistan,” Qureshi was quoted as saying by The News International.
As a result of Qureshi’s pushback, Pakistani journalists criticized the Foreign Minister, saying he contradicted comments he had made earlier.
Soon after, Pakistan went into damage control mode and had to dispatch the Pakistani Chief of Staff Qamar Javed Bajwa to Riyadh. However, the visit proved futile as the Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) did not meet with Bajwa, and they stayed to meet with the Saudi Deputy Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz.
According to the Al Jazeera report, “The latest diplomatic dispute between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan must be seen in the larger context of recent strategic realignments in the Middle East and the Muslim world.”
“For some time, Pakistan has been struggling to maintain its traditional policy of maintaining neutral relations with rival Muslim powers. While Islamabad is concerned about deepening strategic and economic cooperation between archrival India and a group of Arab-led states. for Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, Riyadh is equally frustrated by Pakistan’s proposals towards Muslim-majority states that it considers hostile, such as Turkey, Malaysia and Qatar, “he said.
The Gulf countries are now visibly seen moving towards India and distancing themselves from Pakistan. The tides are turning in India’s favor. An example is MBS’s visit to South Asia in February 2019.
During his tour, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia made the unprecedented decision to visit India directly after Pakistan. After signing deals worth $ 20 billion with Pakistan, MBS said it expects Riyadh’s investments in India “to exceed $ 100 billion in the next two years.”
Saudi Arabia is not alone. After India’s August 2019 move to repeal Article 370, Pakistan called on Arab states to speak up. However, its Gulf partners, including Saudi Arabia, failed to put up a front against India. Riyadh even told India that he understands “India’s approach and actions in Jammu and Kashmir.”
Amid the strategic readjustment in the Middle East, political analysts say that relations between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are sure to turn agitated, as it appears the former will continue to draw closer to New Delhi. Islamabad, for its part, will have to maintain its alliances with several Middle Eastern countries and return to the sphere of Saudi Arabia.
On video: Gulf states openly approach India, Pakistan’s house of cards in trouble
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