Testing times

In worsening Saudi-Iran relations, a modicum of vagueness and a soupcon of ambiguity are the default position today

The ongoing diplomatic row between Saudi Arabia and Iran triggered by the execution of Sheikh Nimr al Nimr has worsened. The Pakistan government has come under fire from the opposition for having a “vague and ambiguous policy” on the matter — which is a position closely resembled by other states that have a close relationship with Saudi Arabia, including the US, the UK and most of the states of the European Union. After Saudi Arabia broke off diplomatic ties with Iran following the burning of its embassy in Tehran, Bahrain, Sudan and Kuwait also decided to display their loyalties to the former by the diplomatic isolation of Iran.

No state that has any sort of relationship with Saudi Arabia, be it ideological or trading, but which is not part of the ‘Arab world’ — and Pakistan is most definitely not — is in anything other than a quandary in how to deal with the situation. There are high levels of dependence stretching back to the 1920s between the Western nations that sponsored the formation of Saudi Arabia, and themselves. Due to this, collective blind eyes have been turned for decades when it comes to civil rights or the rights — or lack of them — of women in the kingdom.

Now with a worsening of relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran that were ever taut, Pakistan is in the same bind as other clients of Saudi hospitality and largesse. Pakistan has no desire to alienate Saudi Arabia, a country that has bailed it out on numerous occasions, but at the same time the realpolitik of its ever closer alignment with Iran, China and even India mean that a modicum of vagueness and a soupcon of ambiguity are the default position today. Both served us well when it came to involvement in the war in Yemen when we resisted the clarion call from Saudi Arabia to join the fight. They will serve us well again as this toxic pot bubbles, and that is what both the government and the opposition must realise.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 8^th, 2016.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.