Daily Times

Prime Minister Imran Khan committed a diplomatic mistake through his expeditious decision to join the Kuala Lumpur Summit, without bridging the gap between contentious Muslim countries. He might not have consulted his foreign office that would have apprised him of the potential arising of resentment from Saudi Arabia. Afterwards, he was caught between the rock and hard place, when Riyadh decided to remain aloof from the summit and asked him to do the same, as confirmed by President Erdogan. The situation, he encountered, must be nothing less than an ignominy because it brought shame from all sides for Pakistan. However, he took the right decision to pull out of the summit for two reasons, as the participation in the summit would have brought even more catastrophic consequences for Pakistan under these circumstances.

First, by becoming a part of the summit, Pakistan would have divided the Muslim Ummah into two permanent blocs. The irony is that the Muslim Ummah is not united under a single umbrella and split into two blocs. One bloc contains Saudi Arabia, the UAE and so on, while the other bloc is comprised of Malaysia, Turkey, Iran and others. Pakistan is the only neutral country, which can solve their differences by becoming a meditator. All sects of Muslim, including Sunni and Shia, consider this country as their own and live peacefully under one religion. Besides, the democratic government of Pakistan has not been under the influence of any sect since its inception. Hence, Islamabad acted in the wider interest of Muslim Ummah. It was a tough decision for Imran Khan, but he chose the interest of Muslim Ummah over his country.

Secondly, the withdrawal of funds by Riyadh would have hit Pakistan to the brick wall and created some serious economic crises. The democratic government led by PM Imran Khan faced a grave balance of payment crisis soon after taking the rein of the country. Saudi Arabia was the first country to provide a bailout package worth $6 billion to strengthen its ailing economy. $3 billion was given in the instalments to support the balance of payment crisis. The State Bank of Pakistan confirmed receiving the last instalment of $1 billion from the Kingdom. It provided short-term relief for Islamabad. Another three billion are a part of deferred payment facility to Pakistan for its oil import from the kingdom. Still, the economy of Pakistan is unstable. It is, therefore, Islamabad will require more assistance from the kingdom. Hence, it cannot afford to annoy Saudi Arabia during the existing economic crisis. Undoubtedly, it was hard for Imran Khan to remain absent from the summit, which was a part of his wider agenda to resolve the issues of Muslim countries and unite them. However, the poor economic condition of Pakistan restricted him from taking some tough independent decisions.

If Erdogan is right and it appears true to what he said about Riyadh pressure being the reason for Pakistan’s hasty withdrawal, then the ruling family of Saud is to blame for creating division among Muslims. The Kuala Lumpur Summit was a good step in the right direction by the Muslims. All the differences must be set aside when it comes to unity and overcoming their challenges. However, Riyadh seems to have some reservations that ought to be addressed jointly by Iran, Turkey, Malaysia and Pakistan.

The poor economic condition of Pakistan restricted him from taking some tough independent decisions

Saudi Arabia believes the joining of the summit would be tantamount to accepting the supremacy of Malaysia, Turkey and Iran. It wanted to maintain its hegemony over the entire Muslim countries. Hence, it rejected the invitation of Malaysia and organizing other Muslim nations into its camp. Pakistan was directly under its influence because of its generous economic assistance and was, therefore, prevented from attending the summit. However, Pakistan has not joined its bloc as well to retain its status of neutrality.

Besides, Riyadh fears that the summit will create a new platform for Muslim nations circumventing the need of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which is headed and represented by the kingdom. The inability of OIC to solve some basic issues of Muslims has further cemented the sentiments of the royal family. Although PM of Malaysia Mahathir Mohamad made it crystal clear that the KL Summit is not meant to replace the OIC, yet his remarks were not adequate to appease their emotions.

Moreover, another Riyadh’s reservation, of course, lies in the fact that the summit will increase the influence of Iran among the other Muslim countries and will help soothe its economic pains. Any measure targeted at improving the economic status of Iran will be anathema to the ruling family of Saud because they consider Iran as their bitter enemy that seeks to annihilate Al-Saud to establish its influential government.

The next big objection of Riyadh might be related to the faith. The ruling family of Saudi Arabia belongs to Wahhabism sect of Islam and wants to create its influence over entire Muslim Ummah. Saudi fears that the new summits headed by Erdogan and Mahathir Mohamad will bring Sunni supremacy over Wahabbism in the Muslim countries. Already, many Sunni in Turkey and other Muslim countries have claimed Tayyib Erdogan, president of Turkey, as their supreme leader. The fears of Al-Saud have further exacerbated after the unity of Erdogan and Hassan Rouhani, president of Iran, who Shias consider as their top leader.

Pakistan should maintain its status of neutrality and strive to bring the entire Muslim Ummah on the single platform. PM Imran khan must personally contact all the important leaders of the summit and express his regret for not joining the summit. They must also retain the cordial relations with Pakistan knowing the fact that it could solve the issues of Muslim countries by being a mediator. Imran Khan also needs to visit Saudi Arabia and address the reservations of the ruling family and try to bring them into the confidence for the next KL Summit. Pakistan must also strive to improve its economic status and try to eliminate its dependency on any other country that could hijack its decision-making. Imran Khan must be suffering from enormous pain for not joining the summit that was planned and agreed with him along with Mahathir Mohmad and Tayyip Erdogan during the recent UN gathering at New York.

Thus, Imran Khan made a diplomatic mistake, initially, by failing to judge the possible reactions from the friendly Kingdom, but it was a right decision to withdraw from the summit, otherwise, it held grave consequences for the country and Muslim Ummah. At present, he needs to play an active role as a mediator to address the reservations of Riyadh and convince it to participate in the upcoming Kuala Lumpur Summit.

The writer is a columnist