What Saudi expectations may have been is not difficult to guess. This country's name was included in a 34-member Muslim countries' coalition announced by Riyadh, so far as public knowledge goes, without consultating Islamabad. It is unclear what exactly is the purpose of this partnership. But to that later. First is the question why did the kingdom take us for granted while including our name in the coalition? There are two obvious explanations. One of course is the material support given to us through difficult times over a long period. It was time for us to return favours. A related reason is the habit of our rulers to render mercenary services to outsiders, like all-out support to the US in its first war against the erstwhile Soviet Union in Afghanistan; and later letting this country become a battleground of the Gulf States' proxy war by allowing the flow of money to sectarian seminaries and groups. But this is different. Besides, a lot has changed since.
Our ruling classes seem to have learnt a lesson from past misadventures that have brought this country to a point where it is fighting an existential war against violent extremist the earlier misadventure begot us. No one wants this country to get involved yet again in other peoples' fights for influence, which holds dangerous ramifications for this state and society. In fact this should have been clear to our Gulf friends after the Parliament passed a resolution rejecting an earlier request for troops for the war they have been waging against the Middle East's poorest country, Yemen.
The aim of the coalition is said to be fighting terrorism though how exactly that objective is to be achieved remains unclear. As recently as Tuesday (that is, the day before yesterday) a Foreign Office statement said, "the facets of cooperation and different activities of the collation will be decided after consultative meeting which will be hosted by Saudi Arabia in the near future." This would be the first international coalition of its kind which came into being without deciding a plan of action. However, the original Saudi statement announcing the coalition said "the countries here mentioned have decided on the formation of a military alliance led by Saudi Arabia to fight terrorism, with a joint operation centre based in Riyadh to co-ordinate and support military operations." What Riyadh is saying here is that the member states are to carry out military operations, but stops short of naming the enemy.
It is now being described as an alliance against terrorism ostensibly to fight the so- called Islamic State. In that case, the three Muslim countries already fighting the IS on the battlefield, that is Iraq, Syria and Iran, should have been included. But they are not. The unstated objective is not lost on anyone, which is to counter the growing influence of Iran in the region. That renders the coalition a Sunni alliance against Iran-led Shia states, which is a dangerous development for the 'Muslim Umma.' Obviously, not much thought went into the announcement made without conferring with the countries whose names were included in the 34 member coalition. Pakistan of course could not afford to be part of such a coalition even if it was not fighting its own war against terrorism.
Our Gulf friends needed to understand this is a democracy where the government cannot go against the wishes of public representatives in Parliament, which had earlier rejected military involvement in the Yemen conflict, and would do the same in the present instance. In any case, it was something undoable for this country. It put Pakistan in a difficult situation. It could not tell off Saudi friends or annoy Iran or create trouble within the country by taking part in an anti-Shia coalition. Choosing sides was not an option. What Pakistan should now do is to turn a difficult situation into an opportunity for itself and play a mediatory role commensurate with its status among Muslim countries. The government seems to be on the right track. Allaying public apprehensions, Prime Minister's Advisor on Foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz told the National Assembly Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs at its Tuesday's meeting that as a member of the anti-terror coalition Pakistan's is not sending ground forces to Saudi Arabia, adding that "Pakistan never sends its forces for any coalition apart from the United Nations". And that our contribution to the alliance would be to share intelligence with Saudi Arabia as well as supply of arms to counter terrorism.
As for the real issue of concern, he said, Pakistan in collaboration with other countries will try to defuse tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran at the upcoming OIC conference in Jeddah. That would be a unique opportunity for Islamabad to play its rightful leadership role. It has come at a time two important supportive developments are taking place in the region, which in fact have increased Gulf States' worries about Iran. While the US-led Western powers' nuclear deal with Tehran is well on its way to a successful conclusion, the US along with major international players is seeking a negotiated settlement of the Syrian civil war under UN auspices, which requires Iran's cooperation. This therefore is an opportune moment for Pakistan to seize the chance to act as a self-confident peacemaker between two belligerent friends rather than to tag along after other OIC members to end [email protected]