Pakistan’s KSA-Iran Policy: Challenges and Way Forward

Abstract

Pakistan has traditionally upright relations with both Iran and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia but at the same time Pakistan is caught in the Middle of the conflict between these two countries. Although For Saudi Arabia and Iran, Pakistan holds obvious appeal in different aspects but Pakistan’s domestic social fabric and religious architecture demands to have neutral and balanced relations with both countries. Similarly Pakistan’s geo-political and geo-economic environment also demands to avoid one-sidedness in case of Tehran and Riyadh. On the one hand Pakistan usually asserts in statements that any threat to Saudi Arabia’s territorial integrity particularly to the “two holy cities of Mecca and Medina” would evoke a strong response from Pakistan. On the other hand when Saudi Arabia demanded deployment of Pakistani troops against Iran backed Houthis in Yemen, Pakistan’s Parliament unanimously voted to decline a Saudi request to participate in its coalition fighting in Yemen against the allegedly Iranianbacked Houthi rebels. To justify this stance, Pakistan said that the situation was overstretched at home and that is why government is unwilling to pick sides between a “brotherly” Saudi Arabia and a “neighborly” Iran. Simultaneously Pakistan has been trying to relieve its regional isolation by improving ties with Iran, because Pakistan’s Eastern and Western boarders respectively with India and Afghanistan are already volatile. Iran is also more important to Pakistan’s energy needs than Saudi Arabia because of its neighborhood. Keeping in view conflict between Iran and KSA Pakistan adopted a more conciliatory and appeasing tone particularly during the period of Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan, suggesting that Islamabad was willing to play the role of mediator between Saudi Arabia and Iran. This study is trying to answer that how can Pakistan establish an unbiased and sensible stance towards Iran and KSA and which are the major challenges impeding Pakistan’s KSA-Iran policy? Walking the tightrope between the Middle East’s two big rivals also demands logical way forward for Pakistan’s foreign policy to confront with concerned challenges.