Saudis Look at Pakistan As an Ungrateful Recipient of Their Assistance
Frud
Bezhan
By
Frud Bezhan and Daud Khattak
August 13,
2020
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have long cultivated what both Sunni Muslim countries call a "fraternal" relationship.
But the
long-standing economic, political, and military ties between the South Asian
state and the oil-rich Middle East kingdom have been based less on common
values and more on transactions, experts say.
Riyadh has
provided huge financial support in the form of cheap oil and loans to
Islamabad, which has been reeling for years from a struggling economy and
energy crisis.
As the
custodian of the two holiest sites in Islam, Saudi Arabia has given legitimacy
to Pakistan's political and military elite, which has promoted a conservative
Islamic identity in the country.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan (left) is welcomed by Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman in Jeddah in September 2019.
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Riyadh also
allegedly helped fund Pakistan's nuclear weapons program in the 1970s.
In return,
Pakistan has sent its forces to help defend the kingdom over the decades.
Islamabad
has also cooperated closely with Saudi Arabia to curb the expanding influence
in the region of Iran -- Pakistan's western neighbor and Riyadh's mortal foe.
The Saudis
have also been allowed to spread their extremist Wahhabi version of Islam in
Pakistan through a vast network of mosques and seminaries.
But those
close ties seem to have hit rock-bottom as the relationship has hit major
snags.
'Stand
With Us'
In
unprecedentedly blunt comments, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi
lashed out at Saudi Arabia for its perceived lack of support for Islamabad's
interests in the disputed Kashmir region.
The
Muslim-majority Himalayan region is divided between Pakistan and archrival
India but claimed by both in its entirety. The two countries have fought three
wars over the region.
Qureshi
said on August 5 that Islamabad expected the Organization of the Islamic
Conference (OIC) -- a group of 57 Muslim countries from Africa, the Middle
East, and Asia that is based in Saudi Arabia -- to convene a meeting on
Kashmir.
Otherwise,
he said, Pakistan would be "compelled" to "call a meeting of the
Islamic countries that are ready to stand with us on the issue of
Kashmir," which has been viewed as a threat to create a new bloc that
would rival the Saudi-dominated OIC.
The foreign
minister mentioned Iran, Turkey, and Qatar, Riyadh's regional rivals with which
Pakistan has bolstered ties in recent years.
Qureshi
said Pakistan last year pulled out of an international summit for leaders of
Muslim countries in Malaysia because of Riyadh's concerns that the meeting
could undermine the OIC.
But now, he
said, Pakistan was demanding Riyadh "show leadership on the issue" of
Kashmir. "We have our own sensitivities," he said. "Gulf
countries should understand this. I'm taking a position despite our good ties
with Saudi Arabia. We cannot stay silent anymore on the sufferings of the
Kashmiris."
Qureshi's
comments came on the first anniversary of India's decision to revoke the
special status of territory under its administration in Kashmir, a move that
outraged Pakistan.
Pakistan's
Foreign Office on August 6 defended Qureshi's rare public criticism of Riyadh,
saying the minister's remarks reflected the "people's aspirations and
expectations."
Game Of
Loans
The same
day, media reports in Pakistan said the government was forced to repay $1
billion of a $3 billion loan it had secured from Saudi Arabia.
Those loans
were part of a $6.2 billion package announced by Saudi Arabia in October 2018,
which included a total of $3 billion in loans and a further $3.2 billion loan
for oil imports.
Media
reports also said Pakistan had not received any oil under the deal since May.
In
February, Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman signed investment deals with
Pakistan worth $20 billion, including for a $10 billion refinery and
petrochemicals complex in the port city of Gwadar.
Pakistani
Prime Minister Imran Khan was criticized and even mocked on social media for
chauffeuring for the crown prince upon his arrival in Islamabad, a move
intended to portray the kingdom's importance to Pakistan.
On August
10 -- just days after Qureshi's outburst, the Saudi ambassador in Islamabad met
with Pakistan's chief of army staff, General Qamar Javed Bajwa. The military
holds an oversized role in the country's domestic and foreign affairs.
A Pakistani
government statement said that "matters of mutual interest, the regional
security situation, and bilateral defense relations between the two brotherly
countries were discussed during the meeting."
'Ungrateful'
"The
Saudis have stood by Pakistan in times of need," says Husain Haqqani,
Pakistan's former ambassador to the United States and a director at the
Washington-based Hudson Institute. "But Riyadh feels Pakistan is less
forthcoming in supporting Saudi Arabia on its security concerns while demanding
both economic assistance and political support."
Pakistan
failed to send troops to help a Saudi-led coalition that has been fighting
Huthi rebels in Yemen since 2015.
Meanwhile,
Islamabad is wary of the burgeoning economic ties between Riyadh and New Delhi.
Saudi Arabia has become India's fourth-largest trading partner and the main
source of its oil imports, with bilateral trade at $27 billion annually.
In
comparison, Pakistan's bilateral trade with Saudi Arabia stands at just $3.6
billion.
"The
Saudis look at Pakistan as an ungrateful recipient of their assistance,
including direct budget support, oil supplied on a deferred-payment basis, and
several hundred thousand jobs for unskilled workers," Haqqani says.
"But for the Saudis, India is a major trading partner and they are
refusing to play Islamabad's zero-sum game on India."
In recent
years, Saudi Arabia has expelled thousands of Pakistanis for not possessing
valid legal documents, although some observers say the expulsions are the
consequences of worsening diplomatic relations.
Saudi
Arabia remains the main source of Pakistan's remittances. Overseas Pakistani
workers sent nearly $19 billion home between July 2019 and April 2020, with
$4.4 billion remitted from Saudi Arabia alone, according to the State Bank of
Pakistan.
Mosharraf
Zaidi, a Pakistani columnist and former diplomat, says the diplomatic row will
have "implications" for Islamabad, adding that the government has
made "a habit of making bombastic statements about the closest strategic
partners of the country."
"Saudi
Arabia is not a casual partner of the country," Zaidi says.
Najam
Sethi, a prominent Pakistani journalist, wrote in a column that Pakistani-Saudi
ties had "hit rock-bottom already" and Qureshi's "outburst is a
consequence of this fact rather than a cause of it."
Imtiaz Gul,
head of the independent Center for Research and Security Studies in Islamabad,
says the spat with Riyadh is an "expression of frustration with the lack
of Saudi support on Kashmir and its close economic relations with India."
But he says
it does not signal a strategic realignment by Islamabad, which has forged
warmer ties recently with Iran. "Pakistan will largely remain aligned with
Saudi Arabia and the other OIC countries, including Turkey," Gul says.
"The relationship with Iran has been tricky and very wobbly from the very
beginning. And I don't expect it to reach to the level of our relationship with
Turkey or Saudi Arabia."
'Thoughtless'
Pakistani
opposition parties and political commentators have slammed the government for
its public criticism of Riyadh, arguing that Islamabad cannot afford to
alienate its Saudi benefactors.
Khurram
Dastagir, a former defense minister and central leader of the opposition
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party of ousted Prime Minister Nawaz
Sharif, said Qureshi's remarks were "most unfortunate and
ill-advised" because "we have a long-standing relationship with Saudi
Arabia."
Dastagir
said that "if there are differences, they should not be expressed in the
unfortunate manner as said by the foreign minister."
Farhatullah
Babar, a former senator and central leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP),
told RFE/RL that Qureshi's statement was "irresponsible, thoughtless, and
undiplomatic."
Original
Headline: Pakistan's 'Brotherly' Ties
With Saudi Arabia Hit 'Rock-Bottom'
Source: Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty