Daily Times

Pakistan is seeing its dance card rapidly filling up. It is thoroughly enjoying the novelty of being wooed and pursued by the greater regional players. And so it should. It is about time Pakistan went to the ball.

Yet it must be mindful not to let all the attention go to its head. Even if India has been relegated to the sidelines, seemingly recast as a wallflower most withered.

Meaning that in the search for Mr Darcy — Pakistan should not be seduced into surrendering all its wares just for a quick frolic in Middle Eastern politics. For it has been here before. Pakistani officers flew fighter jets in the Arab-Israeli 1967 war. More recently, the country played its part in quashing the pro-democracy uprising in Bahrain. By the time that the Saudi-led Gulf Cooperation Council sent in troops to the Arab kingdom to quell the protests — Pakistan was said to already be enjoying a rather strong presence there. Media reports put the number of retired Pakistan Navy and Army officers working as part of the Bahraini security establishment at 10,000.

Today the risk is that Saudi Arabia — with full American backing — is seeking to further co-opt Pakistan to help it retake control of the entire Arab world, in the post-Arab spring climate. It is likely no coincidence that it is Pakistan’s Gen (r) Raheel who is set to lead the so-called and newly formed Muslim NATO. Pakistan should be wary of the fact that this bloc excludes Iran, Iraq and Syria. With particular regard to the latter, it begs the question as to whether the Islamic Military Alliance is eyeing intervention of its own in Syria? It can’t be ruled out. Already, the GCC has vocalised support for the recent unilateral US airstrike against that country. No matter that it was conducted without either Congressional or Security Council approval. This was swiftly followed by the Trump U-turn on NATO. No longer is that Alliance ‘obsolete’. It is now a readymade terror-fighting machine.

Naturally Pakistan should not do anything rash to jeopardise its burgeoning ties with the typecast villain of the Cold War, Russia. But, in real terms, this means also knowing when to keep quiet. And in this case, even though there may be some merit in Moscow’s vetoing of the UNSC draft resolution condemning the alleged Syrian chemical attack earlier this month — considering the usual United Nations impotence when it comes to confronting the supreme aggressor nation — Pakistan should do well to refrain from committing to one side or the other. After all, Elizabeth Bennett only granted Mr Darcy the honour of being her husband when she saw his net worth. *