Friday, March 29, 2024
 
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The Saudi-Pak link: Deeper than the Oceans and higher than the Mountains!




By:Farooq Ganderbali



King Salman of Saudi Arabia personally received Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at Riyadh airport on 4 March 2015. This is not the first time that Riyadh has received a visiting dignitary, but it was the first time that the newly crowned King came to receive the beleaguered Pak Prime Minister. Prior to the visit, Pak media speculated that Sharif was being ‘summoned’ to discuss stories doing the rounds in Islamabad that Riyadh was funding extremist and terrorist groups.



At the beginning of February 2015, the Saudi Embassy in Islamabad issued a statement denying that it was promoting an “extremist mindset” in Pakistan through its financial support of religious seminaries. The statement said "A section of the media has been propagating a false impression that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is funding the extremist mindset in Pakistan through its financial support for religious seminaries."



Downplaying their role in the funding of madrassas in Pakistan, the Saudi embassy claimed that all requests for funding from Pak seminaries was first referred to their ministry of foreign affairs. The Kingdom put the ball in Pakistan’s court by stating that it is only when Islamabad gives the green signal i.e., "when the ministry of foreign affairs informs the embassy in writing that the financial assistance is in the interest of public welfare, the assistance is provided to the applicant. Further, the statement claims that assistance has always been beyond any “sectarian considerations".




It is noteworthy that the Saudi statement was carefully released a month after Riaz Hussain Pirzada, Pak Federal Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) accused the Saudi government of creating instability across the Muslim world by distributing money in order to promote religious extremism. Addressing a two-day 'Ideas Conclave' organised by the "Jinnah Institute" think tank in Islamabad, on 20 January 2015, the federal minister said 'the time has come to stop the influx of Saudi money into Pakistan', which he claimed had a destabilising influence.




This narrative has stuck, despite the fact that the Saudis actually asked Sharif to help them protect their border with Yemen. Even that, the media speculates, had to do with the fact the Houthi’s are backed by Iran. Some reports suggested that Riyadh actually wanted Islamabad to give them a few nuclear bombs! Al-Monitor reports that King Salman specifically wanted a Pakistani military contingent to be deployed, to help defend the vulnerable southwest border of Saudi Arabia with the Zaydi Houthi-controlled north Yemen and serve as a trip-wire force to deter Iranian aggression. In the past, Pakistani President Zia ul-Haq had deployed anarmored brigade to Saudi Arabia at King Fahd's request after the Iranian Revolution in 1979.




All said and done, Sharif was aware as he landed in Riyadh that he owes a lot to the Kingdom. They saved his skin in 1999 when Pervez Musharraf disposed him from the chair and ensured that the former PM got an honourable exit. More recently, as Pak foreign exchange reserves hit an all-time low late last year, the Saudi’s gave a gift of US$ 1.5 bn to Sharif to ensure that Pakistan did not go bankrupt. That is the level of cooperation and understanding between the two countries.




Wikileaks gives details of how in 2009, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton admitted to Saudi Arabia being one of the largest source of funding for Islamist militant groups like the Afghan Taliban and Lashkar-e-Taiba. She added that donors in Saudi Arabia constituted the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide. These 2009 cables reveal that violence in Pakistan and Afghanistan is partly bankrolled by rich, but conservative donors in the Gulf region, whose governments do little to stop them. The problem is particularly acute in Saudi Arabia, where militants trying to solicit funds arrive in the country disguised as holy pilgrims, set up front companies to launder funds and receive money from government-sanctioned charities.



So what can Pakistan do in the light of the ambitious National Action Plan on counter-terrorism announced by Sharif? Can he stop the flow of funds from Saudi Arabia as well as other Gulf nations to religious seminaries across Pakistan? It is unlikely that Nawaz Sharif has any leverages that will allow him to speak frankly with Riyadh on the subject. On the contrary, his recent visit shows that he is beholden to the Saudi’s and will do their bidding when required, nukes included!


(The author is a Freelance Journalist and columnist)



(Opinions expressed in write-ups/articles/Letters are the sole responsibility of the authors and they may not represent the Scoop News)



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