Malaysia summit and Pakistan's controlled foreign policy
In global politics, diplomacy is considered the art of letting others convince you that what you are doing is not only good for yourself but also for the other stakeholders of the world. That is why the domain of foreign policy is considered a very important part of governance, as it determines the success or failure of a particular regime.
However, in Pakistan, the scenario is entirely different, as the minister for foreign affairs here remains a symbolic post while the actual foreign policy is shaped by the invisible forces influenced by Riyadh and Washington. This has been the case since General Ayub Khan imposed martial law in 1958. No foreign minister or even a prime minister other than Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif was able to assert their authority in shaping foreign policy.
Interestingly, both of those prime ministers were ousted by a military coup, Bhutto was hanged in 1979, Sharif was jailed in 1999 and was sent into exile in Saudi Arabia, and after again assuming power he was thrown out of office by an invisible coup that also brought Imran Khan into power through a rigged political discourse. Khan's performance despite the backing of the deep state has been disastrous when it comes to governing the country and even his ability to give an impression that he is in charge and shaping foreign policy is exposed badly.
It was not long ago that Khan declared that Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad was his ideal personality and he was impressed by Turkey for its vision. So when Khan met with Mahathir and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, he agreed to their idea of forming a powerful Islamic bloc. Perhaps Khan, as usual, was not aware of the geopolitical developments, as Turkey is gradually emerging as a leader for the
Muslim world and the Saudi monarchs along with their Arab allies are feeling insecure about Ankara's growing influence.
On November 23, Mahathir announced that his country would host an Islamic summit in Kuala Lumpur that would try to find solutions to the ills and woes of the Muslim world and would include 450 leaders, scholars, and thinkers from 52 countries along with President Erdogan, Qatar Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Indonesian Prime Minister Joko Widodo, and Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan. The summit would discuss such problems as the displacement of Muslims worldwide, food security, national/cultural identity, Islamophobia, and the improvement of technology, trade, Internet governance, and security. Khan not only assured Mahathir of his active participation in the summit but also created hype in Pakistan about his participation in the meeting.
While Khan was busy declaring this summit the beginning of a new era, the Saudi monarchs were feeling very uncomfortable as to how a country like Pakistan that always comes with a begging bowl to them and asks for loans and oil on deferred payments could side with Erdogan's Turkey, their arch-rival Qatar, and Mahathir's Malaysia. Khan made a last-minute effort to calm the waters, and visited Riyadh on Saturday to meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman. However, he was not able to end MBS's reservations about Pakistan participating in the Kuala Lumpur summit, and it became evident that Khan would not participate in the event after all.
According to insiders, Khan's visit to Malaysia was canceled immediately after his meeting with MBS, but it was only revealed through a leak to media, and not through a proper announcement. Now, this development has left Turkey, Malaysia and Iran with a bitter feeling of being ditched by Khan and his government. One can understand that Khan lacks the ability and skills to govern the country, but the invisible forces who control Pakistan's foreign policy and his shrewd Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi could have warned Khan much earlier about the repercussions of participating in the summit. Is it so hard to understand that beggars have no choices?
There is no way that a country that has always fought riyal-sponsored proxy wars, first against Afghanistan and now in Yemen, and which let the interpretation of religion by the Saudi monarchs prevail, resulting in extremism and violence among Pakistan's religious sects, can escape the influence of the Saudi monarchs and independently devise its own strategy for international relations. Khan since assuming the office of prime minister has banked heavily on Riyadh and the other Gulf states and as a result, Pakistan's sovereignty is compromised. It can no longer decide how it will maintain relations with the other Islamic countries that are considered a threat by the Arab monarchs.
Saudi Arabia has always played the role of proxy for Washington to wage wars in Muslim countries and in toppling the regimes in such countries as Egypt and Libya.