The visit of the Saudi crown prince, Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, to Pakistan comes in

the wake of Iran’s self-declaration as a member of the “nuclear club” that has compelled
many states to think in strategic terms. Under the circumstances, Prince Sultan and
President Pervez Musharraf have jointly impressed upon the United States that the
problems arising out of the Iranian case at the IAEA should be addressed through
negotiations only. But, equally significantly, the two leaders have also talked about
cooperation in “defence production and training” between the “armed forces of Pakistan
and Saudi Arabia”. Saudi Arabia has always been Pakistan’s special friend; and observers
abroad have often opined that Pakistan cannot refuse a Saudi “request”. Talking about
regional issues, the two leaders must have taken a close look at the developing scenario
of a possible showdown between the US and Iran and its fallout on the Gulf and West
Asian region.

While Arab states in the region have understandably not been too outspoken about their
growing fear of Iran, Arab writers have pointed to the Shiite populations in Iraq,
Lebanon, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia which Iran could potentially use to pressure certain
countries in its neighbourhood. That is why Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak risked
being indiscreet when he said recently that the Shiites living in the Arab states were
inclined to express greater empathy for and allegiance to Iran than to their own countries.
Of course, this fear is not unfamiliar to Pakistan. In the 1980s it was asked by the Gulf
states to help set up a military response force to Iran — a request Islamabad politely
declined. Even this gesture of neutrality on Pakistan’s part did not persuade Imam
Khomeini that Pakistan was innocent of a pro-Arab bias.

Strategically speaking, a nuclear Pakistan cannot relate well to a nuclear Iran because of
“the Arab factor”, especially after the Saudis and other Arabs have started buying heavily
into Pakistan’s economy. Having bought up the communications giant PTCL and a steel
mill, they plan to build a $2 billion refinery and a $2 billion steel mill. They are also
preparing to buy the gas companies when they come up for privatisation — all deals
being in the “strategic” domain. Read together with the past Saudi largesse to Pakistan, it
seems that the Saudis could be seeking a new and enhanced relationship with “nuclear
Pakistan” to create an “equilibrium” which is no longer possible in their eyes within the
relationship with an “oceanic” United States that is faced with negative domestic fallout
from its adventure in Iraq.

Pakistan is said to have received more Saudi financial aid — starting in the 1960s — than
any other country outside the Arab world. In return, the Saudis have received military and
diplomatic help from Pakistan. In the 1960s, Pakistani instructors went to Saudi Arabia to
train Saudis on the use of newly acquired British aircraft. An agreement reached in the
1970s made it possible to send 15,000 Pakistani military personnel to the kingdom. The
money paid for their services helped Pakistan in its defence preparations. The dictum in
Islamabad was: “The Saudis will not let Pakistan sink”.

There’s more. When Pakistan did not have money to create a zakat fund the “seed
money” came from Riyadh. In the 1980s, when Pakistan’s military balance with India
went awry, Saudi Arabia paid (approximately $1 billion) for a batch of 40 F-16 fighter
aircraft. In 1998, then prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, facing bankruptcy in the aftermath
of the nuclear tests, received a Saudi offer for providing up to 50,000 barrels of oil a day
to Pakistan for an indefinite period on “deferred payment” terms. (The first Muslim
leader to visit Pakistan’s nuclear installations was Prince Sultan, then Saudi Arabia’s
defence minister.) The rumours that Pakistan might be helping Saudis develop their own
nuclear weapons capability have been around although Saudi Arabia is a signatory to the
NPT. So far there has been no proof of such collaboration. But Saudi Arabia might well
be counting on Pakistan’s nuclear capability to shore up the Gulf region’s security in the
face of an Iran that has become increasingly unpredictable under President Ahmadinejad.

In his diplomacy in the region, King Abdullah has ignored neither the United States nor
India. He joined the Americans in efforts to effect a permanent normalisation of relations
between Pakistan and India. But then he rather unexpectedly proposed during his visit to
the region last year that India be invited to be a member of the OIC. The present move to
buy into the security and economic future of an internally disturbed Pakistan could also
be a part of the same strategy. (For the Gulf Arabs, being friendly to Pakistan doesn’t
mean being hostile to India.) The two-day fifth special session of the Standing Committee
of Foreign Secretaries of SAARC, held at Dhaka on April 11-12, has agreed to grant
“observer” status to both the US and South Korea. (Japan and China already have it.)
With India already considerably weaned away through its nuclear deal with the US, the
region seems to be moving towards isolating Iran. This is also being leveraged by Saudi
Arabia.

Saudi Arabia also represents the smaller Arab states in the Gulf. It may not say it, but its
fear of a rather cantankerous Iran is real. It doesn’t, however, agree with the remedies
being discussed in the inner sanctum of the neo-cons in Washington. Pakistan, too,
doesn’t agree with possible American military options on Iran. Another American
military action in the region will play havoc with whatever is left of the world’s oil
economy and doom the Arabs’ current success at economic diversification which requires
peace at all cost. As Iran’s neighbour, Pakistan, too, has similar fears as it looks to
become a “trading hub” in the region. Iran may not see it like this, but then Iran has
chosen an isolationist path and should blame no one in its neighbourhood for thinking of
their own security. *
Well Pakistan definitely need money , our economy which was growing at 7% nose dived
due to people who voted based on non-issues and conspiracy theories (thanks to people
who voted for Nawaz Sharif and Zardari ). Rising unemployment will only fill the ranks
of Taliban who generate a lot of money from crimes and drug money. They are able to
pay not only terrorists but survivors of suicide bombers . We should increase police force
and increase their salaries and benefits and spend some money on their training. Same
goes for FC which is doing awesome job given their families are constantly harassed by
terrorist supporting mullahs.

We need to invest in surveillance , bomb detection , civil defenses and ground

intelligence to win war against Taliban. We should also reward all people in Swat and
FATA who stood up against Taliban. State of Pakistan should take care of people who
want to fight Taliban in terms of money and resource
During last 10 years Pakistan got a lot of higher education facilities and now this plan is
on back foot due to lack of fundings.