Pak-Saudi relations

A kind of freeze that had beset the Pakistan-Saudi relationship ever since the PPP came to power three years back now seems to be giving way to a thaw. Of late, there have been a series of high-level exchanges between the two countries, beginning by a trip here by the Saudi national security chief, Prince Bandar, in March. Then two Pakistani ministers, Hina Rabbani Khar and Firdous Ashiq Awan, were in the kingdom.
President Zardari paid a call on the Saudi leadership last month, soon after his visit to Tehran, lending what was then described a 'regional context' to his meeting with his royal hosts. And, now Prime Minister Gilani has just returned from Jeddah after his meeting with King Abdullah, where the two of them reviewed bilateral relations in order to further strengthen them. And no less significantly, according to official sources, they also discussed the emerging regional situation which is presently in ferment with Arab Spring buffeting North Africa and the entire Middle East. King Abdullah is said to have informed Prime Minister Gilani on his 'hard work for peace for the believers of the Holy Books across the world and for better relations between Muslims and non-Muslims'.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is of course Pakistan's best friend and it bailed our country out whenever help from elsewhere became uncertain - irrespective of who was in power in Pakistan, reflecting the lasting love between the peoples of the two countries. Even when the royal family nurtured certain reservations about a particular political party of Pakistan and its leadership, the people-to-people relationship remained warm and vibrant. Nearly three-quarters of a million Pakistanis hold jobs in the kingdom, earning for their country huge foreign exchange. Then Pakistan is also a prime source of security personnel in Saudi Arabia. Ties between the two remain ever-strong, least affected by the ebb and flow of the sentiments their governments entertain for each other.
That said the governments of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia cannot overlook and disregard the latest developments in the region. From the Pakistani perspective, the evolving situation in Afghanistan - where the kingdom has latent but a strong say, especially because of its relations with the United States - it would be Islamabad's earnest desire that the Saudi leadership should weigh in with it in the ongoing Afghan reconciliation process. That Pakistan cannot countenance any move that grants India a strategic role in Afghanistan must have figured in the exchanges at Jeddah. From the Saudi perspective, as the Arab Spring unfolds, Pakistan has begun to acquire quite a significant role, albeit vicariously, because of its special relationship with Iran. Even when Tehran was fully supportive of the Shia-led revolt in Bahrain - to much discomfort of Saudi Arabia - Pakistan stood by the Bahraini royal family and made quick arrangements to beef up the emirate's security setup. Then there was also a kind of mediator's role by President Zardari that certainly helped remove a host of misunderstandings between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
But as Pakistan tries to help Saudi Arabia and Iran overcome their history-based differences and to come closer, it expects, in return, that the two of them would shun the path of fighting a proxy war on the Pakistani soil. Even when no one openly says so, it's a widely held belief that these two close friends of Pakistan are largely responsible for the ongoing sectarian strife with all its deadly aspects. In the given circumstances, much more than economic bailouts and deferred oil payments, the people of Pakistan would like that it is spared of the patronage the sectarian leaderships receive from abroad. As the Saudi government is working to promote inter-faith dialogue as a means to strengthening global peace and harmony, we expect the focus of that endeavour to be sharper and pointed to the region where religious disharmony and sectarian conflict is bursting at the seams. As Prime Minister Gilani's visit has come about at the advent of the Hajj season, it is our hope that he would have looked into the arrangements, to the satisfaction of Pakistani pilgrims as well of the Saudi authorities whose concern over massive corruption during Hajj, year before last, led to some very distressing revelations badly soiling Pakistan's image.