Pakistan Clueless In West Asia amid Grand Split within the Muslim World
By Khaled Ahmed
September
26, 2020
After
nearly 70 years of building a case in favour of conflict, the Middle East may
be moving towards peace. On September 13, Bahrain recognised Israel in the
presence of US President Donald Trump in Washington. The recognition by a
country almost an appendage of Saudi Arabia, physically and politically,
signals a tacit pledge of recognition by the Saudis as well. The Palestinian
Authority, betrayed by these recognitions, tried to raise the subject at the
Arab League but was ignored.
Israel-UAE
peace deal
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The Arabs
feel threatened today, not by Israel, but from states within the Islamic world
— by non-Arab, non-Semite Iran and Turkey.
Not
comprehending what was unfolding, Pakistan joined Turkey and Malaysia, earlier
this year, to hold a “separate” Islamic summit to signal to the Semites of the
Middle East that it can go its own way. It was soon made to realise, however,
that it had made a mistake although it is still unclear whether it will, under
clerical pressure, denounce the Arabs getting together with Israel.
Israel
already has diplomatic relations with Jordan from 1994 — after three wars and
Egypt from 1979 — after four wars — and no one has minded. In fact, Egypt today
has joined Saudi Arabia and the UAE to fight Turkey in Libya in the western
Mediterranean, and Saudi Arabia now looks to Israel to defend it against Iran.
Pakistan,
as a “nuclear power”, has always been loyal to Saudi Arabia and the UAE because
four million of its expat manpower is located in the two countries. But it may
find itself disadvantaged by its “big leader” Imran Khan. Nuclear but
economically bankrupt, Pakistan needs a lot of “flexibility” during this period
of the grand split within the Muslim world but it may find itself stymied by
its charismatic leader who is greatly attracted to the Turkish president Recep
Tayyip Erdogan.
Perhaps
responding to Pakistan’s possible support to the anti-Arab and pro-Iran front,
the offended clerics of Karachi took out the largest anti-Shia procession in
Pakistan’s history, calling the Shia apostates although the country’s founder
was a Shia. Will Turkey and Iran get together to oppose the Arab trend of
“normalising” relations with Israel? Unlikely, because of Erdogan’s puritan
dislike of the Shia religion. In Lebanon, he has actively supported the Sunni
community against the Iran-supported Shia militias, Hezbollah and Amal.
Will China
step in after the US moves out? In Jerusalem, the analysis is that China, a
dominant trader in the Gulf, is not really interested in being a guarantor of
peace in the region. China is dependent on the region’s oil and gas but this
dependence is temporary as it moves rapidly to renewable energy. It may not
enter the fray to defend an Iran currently engaged in Iraq, Syria, Yemen and
Lebanon.
The other
regional power present in the region — through its good relations with the
Arabs and Israel — is India. Close to the US under Trump, it is economically
better integrated with the Gulf States than Pakistan through its superior expat
manpower and its relationship with Israel. It had involved itself in projects
in Iran as well, funding the port of Chabahar to facilitate its trade routes to
Afghanistan and Central Asia but suddenly pulled out – perhaps after a signal
from Washington – while Pakistan, its regional rival, remained clueless about
what was about to happen in the Gulf region.
The “moral”
hardening of Pakistan’s foreign policy has hampered its diplomacy and
consequently its economic development. It was excluded from high-tech weaponry
after the US embargo. India got out of this ban by reviving its relationship
with Israel as an “alternative” supplier. India’s non-recognition of Israel was
not based on any moral considerations but on the attitude of its Arab friends
in the Gulf. Soon, it read the signs of approval that Pakistan couldn’t from
its perch of moral high ground. Today, Pakistani military-history authors like
Shuja Nawaz recommend recognising Israel but Pakistan is not flexible enough
intellectually to change with the winds.
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Khaled Ahmed is consulting editor, Newsweek
Pakistan.
Original Headline: Pakistan may not be intellectually flexible
enough to deal with Arab-Israel thaw
Source: The Indian Express
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-politics/pakistan-clueless-west-asia-amid/d/122953
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