Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, two of Pakistan’s Gulf allies, are sending their foreign ministers to Islamabad, as the Kashmir imbroglio spotlights the Arab countries’ policy toward South Asian rivals Pakistan and India.
The visits appear to be in response to Pakistan’s outreach to allies and international friends to secure support in the midst of India’s unprecedented militarily imposed clampdown in Kashmir, where people are facing shortages of food and medical supplies.
The month-old Kashmir crisis took the region by storm on August 5 when India’s ultra-nationalist BJP government deprived the disputed region of its constitutionally mandated autonomy. Prime Minister Imran Khan has launched scathing attacks against his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi for the ‘fascist’ move, and calling RSS, the parent organization of the ruling party, as Indian Nazi organization.
New Delhi says the move is aimed at bringing prosperity to the people of Jammu and Kashmir but the people of Kashmir see this as a plot to overturn demographics of the Muslim-majority region.
Saudi Arabia and U.A.E. have been major supporters of Pakistan, rescuing its economy this year as well as previously on several occasions. The two oil-rich countries have also expanded economic and trade ties with India, and last month a U.A.E. award for Narednra Modi, widely criticized for his subservience to Hindutva exclusionary ideology and his role during the 2002 Gujarat massacres, disappointed many Pakistanis.
Riyadh and the Emirates have close security relationship with Pakistan and see Pakistan military as their defender against any aggression, especially in a time of conflicts and regional uncertainties.
Complicating the regional ties is the long-running Saudi-Iran sectarian rivalry.
Tehran recently condemned the Indian action to strip Jammu and Kashmir of its autonomy as an “ugly act” and called for respecting the will of the Kashmiri people.
As per reports, Saudi Arabia’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs Adel bin Ahmed al-Jubeir is scheduled to hold meetings with Prime Minister Imran Khan, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Wednesday.
On Tuesday PM Imran Khan held a telephonic conversation with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman and apprised the royal on the current situation in Indian-administered Kashmir.
Khan has been reaching out to friends in the international community.
The U.A.E.’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan will also visit Islamabad on Wednesday for meetings with top civil and military leadership of Pakistan.
