Tanvir Ahmad Khan’s article of October 30 titled “The Iranian connection” is brilliant analysis.
WASHINGTON DC: Tanvir Ahmad Khan’s article of October 30 titled “The Iranian connection” is brilliant analysis, though it would have been even better had he chosen not to walk on egg shells. By that I mean he should have mentioned the name, as well as the role, of Saudi Arabia.
There is quite an open ‘cold war’ between Iran and Saudi Arabia. On the one hand, Pakistan has sold its independence and self-respect to the Saudis and, on the other, its foreign policy is hamstrung by certain constraints (because of its ties with Saudi Arabia) that prevent it from having a meaningful relationship with its immediate neighbour, Iran.
If Pakistan can get some distance from the Saudis, it can begin to shape a policy of having good relations with all its immediate neighbours including Iran, India, China and Afghanistan. The Iranians are not popular with the west because they overthrew a western puppet, the Shah of Iran, and became masters of their own destiny. The Saudi rulers, on the other hand, continue to depend on the West.
Of course, the challenge now is how to go about and do this, given that the Pakistani establishment is now quite dependent on Saudi funding.
Noor Nabi
Published in The Express Tribune, November 01st, 2011.
