India Pakistan and Arab Sovereignty

Context: UAE- Israel agreement intersects with the equally significant reorientation of India’s relationship with the region. 

Pakistan’s Rediscovery of Aligning with non-Arab powers 

• Historical non-Arab alliance of Pakistan:

• Baghdad Pact 1955: that was brought together by the British along with Iran, Iraq and Turkey.
• Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) 1985: was formed by Pakistan, Iran and Turkey and after the collapse of the Soviet Union, brought independent states under it.
• Strained Relationship with the Arab: especially with the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
• For E.g. Pakistan has been angry with the UAE’s invitation to India to address the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
• Saudi Arabia called back its loan to Pakistan and threatened to suspend the credit facility for oil purchases.
• Pakistan has threatened to convene a meeting of Islamic nations, outside of the OIC, to attack India’s Kashmir policy. 

Geopolitical Realignment in the Middle East

• Outside Interventions:  

• For Turkey and Iran, a non-Arab alliance, backed by China and Russia is an instrument to advance their role in the Arab at the expense of the Saudis. 

• Russians would like to bring the US down in the Middle East. 

• China will try to use Russians, Turks, and Iranians as an anti-American vanguard while consolidating its economic influence in the Arab region.

• Pakistan’s partnership with China would give Pakistan new leverage in the changing Middle East. 

• Ideological Tensions: 
• Iran’s wresting the mantle of Islamic leadership leveraging the Shia population across the Arab states. 
• Saudi and UAE are facing existential threats from both the Sunni Muslim brotherhood backed by Turkey and Shiite Iran’s regional expansionism.
• Qatar, which is locked in a fraternal fight with the Saudis and the UAE wants to carve out an outsized role for itself in the Middle East.
• Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohamad fancied himself as the leader of the Islamic world.

Way Forward: As Pakistan rediscovers its tradition of aligning with non-Arab powers, India must renew its defence of Arab sovereignty.

• Support Arab’s reconciliation with non-Arab neighbours: including Israel, Turkey and Iran and resist the temptation of telling them what is good for them. 
• Oppose foreign interventions in the Arab world: most Arabs see the greatest threat to their security from Turkish and Iranian interventions.
•  Extend support to Arab economic integration, intra-Arab political reconciliation and the strengthening of their regional institutions.
• Recognise that India’s geopolitical interests are in close alignment with those in the moderate Arab Centre.

• For E.g. Reluctance of Saudi Arabia to convene a meeting to condemn Indian actions in Kashmir, shows rising diplomatic relations.

• India can’t be passive amidst the unfolding of geopolitical realignment in West Asia. 
• Turkey, Malaysia and China alliance have been the most vocal in challenging India’s territorial sovereignty in Kashmir. 
• The Qatar-based Al Jazeera remains anti-India.

Conclusion: India’s diplomatic engagement with the Middle East must be backed by standing up for Arab sovereignty and opposing the forces of regional destabilisation.