Pakistan aims to thread the needle to Middle East peace

Much attention has been given to Iran, but the conflict’s ramifications range far beyond that nation’s boundaries and even just the Persian Gulf.

Iran’s eastern neighbor, Pakistan, might be leading the pack as the country whose complications run the deepest.  

Sharing nearly 600 miles of border with Iran, Pakistan is one of the many countries deeply dependent on imported hydrocarbons who are watching prices rise rapidly. Approximately 40 million Pakistani citizens are Shiites, like most Iranians. Islamabad has a new defense treaty with Saudi Arabia, which has come under attack from Iran. Pakistan faces serious issues with domestic terrorism, which led to recent cross-border violence with Afghanistan. It is also once again teetering on the edge of financial disaster and only recently avoided a massive war with its archrival, India.  

In short, Pakistan is a nuclear-armed nation whose stability is being challenged on multiple fronts. The Iran war has exacerbated many of these conditions.

The Pakistan-Saudi defense treaty, signed in September, is already being questioned. While military cooperation between the two nations goes back to the 1960s, this treaty strengthened the ties. It states that “aggression against either country shall be considered aggression against both.” The treaty came on the heels of Israel’s unsuccessful attack on Hamas leadership in Qatar, which rattled the Gulf states and pushed the Saudis to formalize military cooperation with Pakistan.

Cooperation between the two countries is extensive. There are nearly 3 million Pakistanis working in Saudi Arabia, sending billions home in remittances. That includes approximately 2,000 Pakistani troops providing training and support........

© The Hill