Not the middleman

The Gulf media took little notice of Zardari’s two day Saudi visit. There was no editorial comment or a write up in the opinion pages of The Khaleej Times, Gulf News or Al Arabiya. The visit was treated as a non-event.

On the other hand, Pakistani media fed by unnamed sources, presumably foreign office functionaries, published front page stories underlining the ‘importance’ of talks between the Saudi king and Zardari. According to a leading English daily, ‘extensive talks’ were held with King Abdullah on “issues related to Iran, Afghanistan, Bahrain, and its security implications for the region.”

A report in another paper made the presumptuous claim, based again on information from unnamed sources, that on account of the mediatory efforts between Saudi Arabia and Iran ‘spearheaded’ by President Asif Ali Zardari, tensions between the two countries have reduced ‘to some extent’ and both sides have showed an inclination towards bilateral engagement, though in a clandestine manner.

This would amount to conducting diplomacy in a characteristically Pakistani style. We were also informed that President Zardari had assigned a special task to our bull in a china shop, Interior Minister Rehman Malik, to shuttle between Riyadh and Tehran as a Pakistani envoy to decrease tensions between the two states!

Pakistan with a declining economy, worsening law and order situation, bad governance and carrying a begging bowl is hardly in a position to act as an arbiter in the Middle East or anywhere else on the globe. Zardari would do well to avoid the futile activity and instead concentrate on resolving Pakistan’s internal problems.

The meeting with the Saudi king after a hiatus of three years could hardly have gone beyond a limited agenda revolving around what the two countries need from one another. Pakistan faces a terrible financial crunch and, unlike the past, the Saudis have been close fisted this time. With American aid in doldrums, Pakistan desperately needs Saudi Arabia to rescue it.

After the pro-democracy uprising rocked the Arab world, particularly after the departure of Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak and the simmering unrest in neighbouring Bahrain the Saudi rulers are under considerable pressure. It is here that they need Pakistan’s help. This shows Saudi Arabia’s revived interest in Zardari.

The deep seated differences between Saudi Arabia and Iran emerge from the latter’s expanding influence among the Shiite community in the Arab world which Saudi Arabia considers harmful for its national interests. Iran’s bonhomie with Iraq where a majority of population is Shiite continues to bother the Saudis.

They also believe that Iran is helping anti-Saudi elements in bordering Yemen. They are worried that a democratic order in Bahrain would bring Iran’s influence to Saudi kingdom’s immediate neighbourhood and from there to the highly sensitive oil rich Saudi province dominated by Shiites.

Highly powerful interests are involved in keeping Saudi Arabia and Iran at daggers drawn. The US and its protégé Israel want Saudis to keep Iran under pressure. Any improvement of relations between the two would upset the American plans for the Middle East. What is more, keeping the pot boiling benefits America’s war industry. The US hopes to sell $60 billion worth of advanced aircraft and weapons to Saudi Arabia, the largest arms sale in US history to another country. It is ludicrous to suggest that Rehman Malik is trying to “decrease tensions between the two states” and that his efforts are bearing fruit.

In any case, there are other countries with greater clout than Pakistan who can help bridge the differences between Saudi Arabia and Iran, if the two are really keen on it. Among other things, compared to Pakistan, they enjoy better relations with the two countries. Turkey which has developed a reputation as a mediator under Erdogan tops the list.

It is in the interest of Pakistan to maintain friendly relations with both the Saudi rulers and Iran. The most that Pakistan can do, which it should assiduously aim at, is not to become a party in the confrontation between Saudi Arabia and Iran. It has to keep friendly ties with both. What the Saudis would like Islamabad to do is to supply mercenaries to Bahrain, and if the need arises to Riyadh, to beat up and shoot the pro-democracy protestors. Islamabad must not agree to the demand under any circumstances.

The writer is a former academic and a political analyst.