By Ankit Panda
Pakistan needs a modus vivendi between Iran and Saudi Arabia to avoid a sectarian implosion at home.
It’s been a particularly interesting week for Pakistani diplomacy. In a rare display, both Nawaz Sharif, the country’s prime minister, and General Raheel Sharif (no relation), the chief of army staff, jointly traveled to Saudi Arabia and Iran, in what was billed as an attempt by Islamabad to mediate between the quarreling Middle Eastern giants.
Saudi Arabia’s execution of Nimr al-Nimr, a prominent Shia Sheikh, on January 2 led to massive protests against the Saudi embassy, which was ransacked by Iranian protesters. The incident led to the cessation of formal diplomatic ties between the two countries and intensified the underlying politico-sectarian divides in the Middle East.
Pakistan’s role in the Saudi-Iran split isn’t entirely obvious. The country is a Sunni-majority state with the second-largest Shia population of any Muslim-majority state after Iran. Pakistan shares close historical and diplomatic ties with Saudi Arabia, but shares a border with Iran. For Islamabad, maintaining good ties with both Riyadh and Iran is a priority for entirely different reasons.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s leaders have no particular intention to be seen as siding with either Saudi Arabia or Iran and their highly sectarian geopolitical feud for influence in the Middle East. Nevertheless, ahead of the Nawaz and Raheel trips, the Pakistani foreign office issued a statement noting that “Pakistan is deeply concerned at the recent escalation of tensions between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
Read the full story at The Diplomat