How Saudi Arabia repeatedly became Pakistan’s savior in a crisis

Pakistan is undergoing serious economic turmoil due to its own policies, Corruption, indirect military rule & political doldrums.  Recently when we saw that the country was on the verge of economic collapse & its foreign reserves were depleted to an alarming level of $4.3Bn, few countries stepped up to save it from collapse & Saudi Arabia was leading them. During the recently organized moot in Geneva where Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif raised the rattle of flood crisis in his country, Saudi Arabia once again emerged as a savior which not only pledged a direct $1Bn aid package to Pakistan but ensured another $4.2Bn aid from Islamic Development Bank where it is the biggest stakeholder & the sole decision maker.

In the past too, whenever Pakistan came under crisis, Saudi Arabia moved forward to help Islamabad. Post-nuclear test sanctions of 1998 are another example of when Saudi offered help. Despite of the fact that Pakistan is the biggest hub of terrorism in the world and every country knows that the money given to this rogue country will hardly reach the flood victims albeit it will make its way to the pockets of Army Generals, Corrupt politicians, landlords & bureaucrats, it is pertinent to understand as to why Saudi Arabia comes forward to save Pakistan every time?

Large Sunni Islamic population of Pakistan- Pakistan is the second biggest Islamic country with respect to the Muslim population. Not only this, it has a powerful military boasting of having an Islamic Nuclear bomb which makes it one of the prominent pillars of the Islamic community known as the Islamic Brotherhood. Back in history, we saw the leadership of Islam changing repeatedly. Earlier it was Persia, then it was the Caliphate of the Ottoman kingdom of Turkey & in the last few decades, Saudi Arabia emerged as the leader of this Islamic brotherhood thanks to the petroleum reserves & free flowing money into the gulf. To remain the undisputed leader of Islam, Saudi must keep Pakistan under its clout always and for that very purpose, it is spending its Petrodollars. Today, if Saudi Arabia refuses to help Pakistan, Pak will start looking for alternative options which will be detrimental to Saudi ambitions.

Islamic Nuclear Bomb- Pakistan has been reiterating time and again that the nuclear bomb developed by it is collectively an Islamic Bomb. It is also reported by various writers and researchers that it was Saudi Arabia that funded the Pakistani nuclear program and in light of this fact, it is impossible to believe that Saudi Arabia will leave its hold over Pakistan. It is learned that when Pakistan carried out its nuclear tests in 1998, the only country it took in confidence prior to the event was Saudi Arabia. Not only this, but Pakistan reportedly has also offered its nuclear bomb to be stationed in Saudi Arabia in case of any eventuality arising from Iran or Israel, and with this, we have strong reasons to believe that Saudi Arabia will do all possible efforts to continue maintaining its access to the so-called Islamic Nuclear Bomb.

Saudi-Pakistani military relations- interestingly, Saudi-Pakistani military relationship is the strongest in the world. Since the early seventies, large contingents of the Pakistan Army have been stationed in Saudi Arabia on various pretexts to train their military, protect their religious sites and participate in their military operations. During the seizure of the great mosque in 1979, it was Pakistani commandoes who liberated the mosque killing the rebels. It is reported multiple times that Pakistan Army had been helping Saudi Army fight the Yemeni rebels & their pilots are flying Saudi Jets. Current Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir had also been posted in one of the Pakistani military contingents in Madinah when he was a Lieutenant Colonel. The military bonding is so strong that it is impossible for Saudi Arabia to ignore Pakistan.

Pakistani Cheap labor in Saudi Arabia- Pakistan is one of the biggest suppliers of Cheap manpower in Saudi Arabia. For its day-to-day needs pertaining to Construction workers, sweepers, cleaners, gardeners & even domestic help, Saudi is dependent upon Pakistan to some extent. This may not be a very important factor but contributes largely towards forming an opinion of common Saudi people towards Pakistan and none of them wants Pakistan to collapse.

Saudi Islamic Influence in Pakistan- in the past, the Islamic Scenario of Pakistan was different and different sects of Islam used to be respected there. This is evident from the fact that the country was formed by an Ismaili Shia named Mohammad Ali Jinnah. During earlier times, Pakistan was close to Iran (Earlier Persia) to the extent that during the 1965 Indo-Pak war, Pakistani fighter jets were operating from Iranian Air Bases. Later when Saudi got a chance to have its hold over Pakistan in the seventies and later during the Soviet-Afghan war where it funded the Afghan Mujahedeen through Pakistan, Saudi Arabia got a chance to create a strong Sunni religious influence over Pakistan. Over the last five decades, old puritanic schools of Islam have disappeared from Pakistan and are replaced by Ahl-e hadith & Deobandi seminaries where there is no place for other sects of Islam. This is one of the biggest reasons why Pakistan emerged as the biggest hub of terrorism in the world. This is another reason why it is difficult for Saudi Arabia to leave its footprints in Pakistan even if it must pay huge sums of money in the name of Islam.

The current bailout of Pakistan by Saudi Arabia is not the first time, and it is not going to be the last time too. Saudi has strong reasons to keep Pakistan afloat under all circumstances and for that, it will not only fund Pakistan but also provide any possible help to the country. No matter what the world order or global outlook towards Pakistan is, Saudi has to keep its own interests first and make sure that Pakistan remains under its hood. Spending a few billion dollars for this purpose is not at all expensive.

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