Sorting out Syria

In what is being seen as a change in Islamabad’s stance on Syria, the visiting Saudi Crown Prince, Salman bin Abdul Aziz, has persuaded the country’s government to switch over to Riyadh’s line on the civil war that has been fought there since March 2011, when an uprising began against the Baathist regime of President Bashar alAssad. Pakistan now backs the Saudi position that an interim set-up be established in the country, replacing Assad.

In some ways this seems like a practical solution, given the US involvement in the country and the need to rescue it from a protracted war which has seen some terrible abuses committed on either side. But there are complications. With sectarian factors a key element in Syria, a country that has in the past suffered as a result, Iran will not be pleased with Islamabad’s alignment with Riyadh. The tensions between the two neighbouring countries are already beginning to show, with Tehran angrily protesting the alleged kidnapping of border guards posted along its frontier with Pakistan. The insinuations from the Saudis that Iranian forces were entering Syria would not have helped at all.

We must also hope that Pakistan is acting out of conviction, and not on the basis of expediency or the need to obtain defence contracts and other help offered by the Saudis. It should have studied the complex Syrian situation carefully, and reached its own conclusions given the abuses committed by all players in the conflict. We hope this has happened, rather than being a case of simply blindly following Riyadh. The primary focus of all efforts must be to re-establish calm in Syria, for the sake of its people. All friends of that country need to move towards this goal. An interim government may indeed help serve this purpose, but only if matters are carefully thought through. Islamabad and Riyadh’s cooperation is welcome, but all the other complicating factors need to be thought about too, given the sensitivities and complexities of the Syrian situation and all that it involves for the region and for Pakistan’s foreign relations.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 19^th, 2014.

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