The recently signed defence pact between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan has veritably elevated the position of Shehbaz Sharif in his country to the position of ‘Bahba Sharif.’
Shehbaz Sharif has been going around the Middle East and Gulf countries begging for money to prop up Pakistan’s limping economy. Easy money was not coming like the olden days. Suddenly sources started to dry up. Even the Saudi king refused to give away billions to Pakistan anymore. Inflation was eating away at the core causing the prices of essential commodities to soar like crazy. People fought on the streets for a sack of wheat and sugar. The World Bank and IMF put forward a number of conditions for extending any further loan to his country. In desperation, Shehbaz Sharif said in a public meeting a couple of years back that wherever he went to visit people thought he went there to beg. He tried to clarify saying “main mangne nehi aya” meaning “I have not come to beg” but those foreign hosts hardly believed him.
Against such a grim background, the defence pact with Saudi Arabia came like a great boon to him. The pact meant money – a lot of money, for the army and the government to run comfortably for years to come. The money will come in the form of salary, hardware, electronic goods, light arms, uniforms, boots and ration. There will be regular training sessions spending huge amounts of dollars and yearly home leave.
Now, why this sudden pact, that again a defence pact? Is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in danger of external threat by any neighboring country? Outwardly, it seems the kingdom has no enemy, but no one knows what is cooking in the hinterlands. The Saudis and the Houthis are not best of friends.
History says: “There is an ongoing armed conflict between the Armed Forces of Saudi Arabia and Iran-backed Yemeni Houthi forces in the Arabian Peninsula, including the southern Saudi regions of Asir, Jizan, and Najran, and northern Yemeni governorates of Saada, Al Jawf, and Hajjah, since the onset of the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen in 2015.
“Over the course of the conflict the Houthis have carried out repeated attacks on military bases and outposts in Saudi Arabia. The Houthis and pro-Houthi Yemen army units first deployed teams equipped with anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs)—like Russian made 9M113 Konkurs, 9M113 Kornet-Es and a few BGM-71 TOWs—to take out specific vehicles or bunkers. Meanwhile, pro-Houthi special forces would assault the border outposts, while motorcycle mounted teams armed with RPG-7s and US-made M47 Dragons infiltrated the Saudi rear.”
Then enters Israel in the big frame. The entire perspective has undoubtedly changed after the recent airstrike on Doha, Qatar by Israel. Saudi Arabia watched the bombing with disbelief and possibly decided they could not trust Israel beyond a point. Many analysts believe it triggered the rush for the defence pact with Pakistan. Saudis are aware of the military strength of the Paki soldiers and also aware that Pakistan has some good air force pilots. Pakistan also manufactures high quality light arms in their backyards which are good enough for taking on enemies in frontal attacks.
Everyone is now talking openly about Pakistan using nuclear weapons against the enemy of Saudi Arabia in case the kingdom is under attack. Well, that is a possibility you cannot rule out. Possibly, that is what attracted the Saudis to select Pakistan as a defence partner. So, we believe politics in the Arabian Peninsula is about to change to some extent in the near future.
The writer is a senior journalist.
