Tazeen Akhtar
Saudi Arabian Land Forces Commander Lt Gen Fahd bin Abdullah Mohammed Al-Mutair was in India on his first ever visit from Monday to Wednesday 14-16 Feb 2022. Indian Army Chief General MM Naravane had visited KSA and UAE in Dec 2020. This visit is reciprocal in which both countries agreed to strengthen military cooperation. Interestingly, former Pakistani army chief general Raheel Shareef is commander in chief of 34 countries military led by Saudi Arabia and Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan claims to be the best friend of Saudi Arabia, especially he boasts of very close relation with Saudi Crown Prince MBS.
BUT
There is no statement or stance of any type from the government of Pakistan before , during the visit of Saudi Military Commander to India.
BUT
Hardly anyone in government and military circles of Pakistan knows about a particular picture of the visit in which host is presenting the shield to the guest under a huge portrait in which General Niazi has been shown surrendering before General Arora in 1971.
“The Indian Army tweeted that Lt Gen Fahd bin Abdullah Mohammed Al-Mutair, Commander of the Royal Saudi Land Forces of Saudi Arabia, called on Gen MM Narwane. During this, ways to further enhance bilateral defense cooperation between the two countries were discussed. The army chiefs of India and Saudi Arabia also discussed the shared economic interests of the two countries, ending terrorism and mitigating the effects of climate change. India and Saudi Arabia have also termed defense diplomacy as the main principle of relations between the two countries.”
Hindustan News Hub has pinched Imran Khan on the visit noting “Pakistan is sleepy on KSA Commander’s visit to India”
The web has quoted The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) that the alliance has alleged that Imran Khan has proved to be a failure in Pakistan’s foreign policy. PDM leaders have said that once Saudi Arabia was Pakistan’s best friend, but now it is strengthening its ties with India. The opposition has claimed that Pakistan has seen defeat on diplomatic fronts since the coming of Imran Khan’s government.
The web writes that the general public of Pakistan is angry with Imran Khan for the failure of foreign policy. Pakistanis say that due to Imran Khan’s wrong foreign policy, Saudi Arabia and UAE have become friends of India. Many Pakistanis have also reminisced about Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to Islamabad in 2019. In which the Crown Prince had promised to set up a refinery in Pakistan, but later Saudi refused. Saudi Arabia has lost trust in Pakistan.
Enemy always exploits the shortcomings and highlights the week points. Saudi Arabia is sovereign to shape up the relations in line with her own interest. Pakistan has to see her own foreign policy and state of the state. Here the state of affairs is that Murad Saeed is awarded number one status by Prime Minister. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi performed significantly on all fronts but his efforts have not been acknowledged by Imran Khan. How a leader can respond to international challenges when he can not decide between his own cabinet in justified manner?
Unfortunately, the government of Pakistan is busy in fixing the opposition and journalists at a crucial time when India is leaving no stone unturned to perturb Pakistani moves on regional and international forums.
As long as the public is concerned, actually the public is unconcerned with state matters that is a state of high concern. The states can not flourish when the public has nothing to do with state affairs. PTI government has left the public in the lurch by raising the prices of every day commodities leaving no option for the poor and middle class to only curse the rulers and their class.
India is working on her own policy for her own interests. India does not need to invade Pakistan to crush us. We, ourselves are enough for this purpose. Our security doctrine already says ” Pakistan is facing threats from inside.”
