Time for diplomacy

It is beginning to look like the govt has scored a foreign policy success by the deployment of masterly inactivity

There are doubtless sighs of relief in the upper echelons of governance in Pakistan at the news that the Saudi Arabian government has ended its military operations in Yemen. The Saudi government has said that it has “successfully managed to thwart the threat” posed by the Houthi rebels in Yemen. In reality, the air campaign has done little to halt the Houthi advance and fighting continues in and around Aden. It is now hoped that there will be a diplomatic solution and a “peaceful settlement of the crisis”. Considering that Yemen is in a state of civil war and neither side appears peacefully inclined, this may be little more than wishful thinking.



Where this leaves Pakistan vis-a-vis the Saudi Arabian request for support — roundly rejected by parliament — is something of an open question. It is beginning to look like the government has scored a foreign policy success by the deployment of masterly inactivity. By no stretch of the imagination was the war in Yemen in any way the business of Pakistan, brotherly relations with Saudi Arabia notwithstanding.

The holy sites on the Peninsula were never threatened, neither was the territorial integrity of Saudi Arabia. This was a fight we did not need to be in and in staying out of it beyond some blowsy rhetoric may even have begun to reshape our relationship with the Saudis. This would be no bad thing. To be sure Saudi Arabia has been our benefactor in dark times but it has never made the kind of commitments that the Chinese have just done.

There is an obvious mutual benefit in the deals with China, whereas the collateral in providing military support to a dubious intrusion in the affairs of one state by another was almost entirely negative. Pakistan may have a diplomatic role to play in resolving the conflict, a role enhanced by the fact that it was not an active participant, and our government should pursue such a solution with all diligence. What may have been a threat becomes an opportunity instead, and a rethink of relations with the Arab world is opportune.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 23^rd,  2015.

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