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The GCC’s relative silence is a reminder that many countries over the past two
decades have worked hard to de-hyphenate their South Asian foreign policy,
so that relations with Pakistan and India are not perceived as a zero-sum
game. The approach typically involves deepening economic and socio-cultural
ties with India while keeping relations with Pakistan aloft through cooperation
on specific security issues and occasional aid handouts. Indeed, recent years
have seen foreign ministries increasingly handle both countries from separate
desks, with the former primarily viewed through an Afghanistan or terrorism
prism, and the latter considered in the broader context of global trade and
Asia-Pacific relations, particularly the need to temper China’s rise.
The OIC presents our Gulf allies with a convenient platform to perform this
balancing act, allowing them to engage in doublespeak with minimal
challenge. For example, at the OIC, Saudi Arabia took a pro-Pakistan stance
on Kashmir. It backed the OIC’s description of India’s actions as an “affront to
Muslims” and is supporting (along with the UAE) Pakistan’s plan to summon
a special OIC session to focus on Kashmir. Meanwhile, as part of its regional
approach, the kingdom maintains that the dispute is a bilateral issue between
India and Pakistan.
Pakistan must now leverage the opportunities that these new dynamics
present. There is value in the Gulf’s princes having the ear of both Pakistan’s
and India’s leaders as they can help defuse tensions, which are likely to mount
over the coming years. For example, the UAE crown prince reportedly engaged
both Imran Khan and Modi following India’s air strikes in Balakot and called
for restraint. It’s unlikely that the Gulf states would explicitly mediate between
Islamabad and New Delhi, but the availability of voices of reason who can
compel the attention of nuclear-armed rivals is no bad thing.
Moreover, the GCC states’ pragmatic approach to engaging both Pakistan and
India should be an inspiration to us. We can enjoy greater autonomy in
pursuing a balanced Middle East policy, strengthening ties with both Saudi
Arabia and Iran, and continuing to avoid embroilment in messy regional
conflicts (as we did to a large extent with Yemen in 2015, though Pakistani
troops are reportedly deployed at the Saudi border with Yemen).