Saudi enslavement of Pakistan

• Old habits

Pakistan succumbing to Saudi Arabia’s pressure to send in more troops to the kingdom comes as Riyadh continues its onslaught against Yemen’s Houthi rebels. Not only does this contradict the parliament’s April 2015 resolution calling for ‘neutrality’ in Yemen, it reaffirms Islamabad’s presence on the Shiaphobic Saudi side in the Middle East sectarian divisions, completely alienating neighbouring Iran.

The army confirmed the move to agree to Saudi demands after Ambassador Nawaf Saeed Al-Maliki met Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Thursday at General Headquarters.

However, reports suggest that the instructions were laid out during Gen Bajwa’s meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz during their meeting in Riyadh on February 1.

It is not in Pakistani interests to be party to a Shiaphobic coalition, especially when its own Shia population has been under attack for decades by those very outfits that Saudi has funded

There are many wrongs on what has transpired on this particular front, and every single one of them is the established normal in Pakistan.

For instance, the fact that the announcement to send the troops to Saudi Arabia came from the army, and not the parliament – which wasn’t even taken into confidence – clearly undermines civilian authority. But of course that undermining is the bread and butter of Pakistani politics, reinforced by military stooges in-charge of the narrative building.

Even so, what is even more damning than the open, and frequent, mockery of civilian institutions is the self-reinforcement of the military institution as a mercenary force that is willing to overlook Pakistan’s own requirements to fulfill the duties for Riyadh.

Of course, this can’t entirely be put on the military establishment – even though they are the ones calling all the shots – since the civilians have signed the bilateral agreement with Saudi Arabia to guard its ‘territorial integrity’.

But therein lies the rub, and it is this particular contractual obligation that is being interpreted as per Riyadh’s commands to ensure that Pakistan becomes party to the war on Yemen.

“Troops already there will not be employed outside [Saudi Arabia]. The Pakistan army maintains bilateral security cooperation with many other [Gulf Cooperation Council]/regional countries,” the ISPR statement announcing the deployment of Pakistani troops in Saudi Arabia read.

However, while Pakistan maintains that it is only ‘guarding the Saudi territory’ – which back in the day was limited to the holy sites in Makkah and Madinah – playing out the duty of the watchman would obviously strengthen the Saudi-led coalitions onslaught in Yemen.

And yet, Islamabad (read Rawalpindi) has the audacity to claim that Pakistan is not being involved in Yemen.

If, hypothetically, foreign troops were deployed along the LoC in our neck of the woods, would they not be aligned against India or Pakistan, depending on which side of the border they are on?

What the decision to become party in the Yemen war highlights is the Saudi enslavement of Pakistan, which, again, is not a recent reality. And considering that the only return for Pakistan is in the shape of petrodollars, this is as blatant a sellout as is possible.

For, where is Saudi Arabia when the FATF is threatening economic sanctions over jihadist groups, among which are those that receive heavy funding from Riyadh?

Where is Saudi Arabia when it comes to echoing Pakistan’s calls for Kashmir, which is increasingly dwindling as India successfully sells its own narrative to the world?

Where was Saudi Arabia when the US President Donald Trump claimed India was a victim of terror – implying that the Kashmiri separatist movement is terrorism, while he didn’t even mention Pakistan as one – in an Islamic summit on its very own turf in Riyadh, last May?

Forget the complete lack of dignity that Islamabad has embraced by reducing its role to that of a watchdog, in exchange for petrodollars, these services blatantly contradict Pakistan’s own interests.

It is not in Pakistani interests to be involved in the Middle East, while the jihadist threat looms at home.

It is not in Pakistani interests to align itself against Iran, which can provide all the financial benefits that Saudi Arabia can – and in a much more respectable bilateral agreement.

It is not in Pakistani interests to be party to a Shiaphobic coalition, especially when its own Shia population has been under attack for decades by those very outfits that Saudi has funded.

And it is not in Pakistani interests to be Saudi slaves, helping kill other Muslims, while shamelessly selling Pan-Islamist diplomacy and security policy at home.