Pakistan appears to be increasing its outreach to the Middle East as it orients its policies toward the region. Several recent meetings indicate this country’s potential pivot from South Asia to West Asia. These moves may also reflect its intention to work more closely with the US under the Trump administration.
For instance, Arab News reported over the weekend that “Saudi Arabia’s Defense Minister, Prince Khalid bin Salman, presented the King Abdulaziz Medal of the First Class to Pakistan army’s chief of staff on Sunday in a ceremony at his office in Riyadh.” Arab News noted that this information was based on “the Saudi Press Agency.”
It added that Field Marshal Asim Munir was awarded the honor following a royal order from King Salman [bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud], according to Saudi Arabia’s SPA.
“The medal recognizes... Munir’s distinguished efforts in strengthening Saudi-Pakistani friendship, advancing cooperation, and developing relations between the two countries,” Arab News said.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are increasing ties. They want to work on defense cooperation and also “promoting international peace and security.”
Who else in the Middle East has Pakistan been reaching out to?
Another Pakistan outreach has been to Iran. Iranian state media IRNA noted that “Mohammad Ishaq Dar, the foreign minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, held a telephone conversation with [Iranian Foreign Minister] Abbas Araghchi on Sunday to discuss bilateral relations and regional developments.”
The report continues by noting that “during the telephone conversation, the foreign ministers of Iran and Pakistan reviewed bilateral relations and emphasized joint efforts to further expand relations between the two countries in all areas of interest. In this conversation, the two sides called for continued diplomatic consultations with regional countries to preserve regional peace and stability.”
In addition, Iraq has held a discussion with Pakistan. According to Shafaq News in Iraq, “outgoing Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari discussed on Sunday evening Pakistani labor, prisoner exchanges, and working on an agreement to exchange wanted persons, in addition to cooperation in the field of oil and its derivatives.”
According to this report, Sudani’s media office told “Shafaq News that the latter received the Pakistani president, and during the meeting, bilateral relations between the two countries were discussed, as well as the importance of improving the reality of trade exchange between the two countries.”
“Sudani pointed to the historical relations between Iraq and Pakistan at the official and popular levels, expressing his gratitude to Pakistan for its principled stances toward Islamic and Arab issues, especially the Palestinian issue and the war against the Gaza Strip,” the prime minister of Iraq’s media office reportedly told Shafaq News.
Iraq is willing to cooperate with Pakistan on issues including oil and energy, military training, and industrialization.
The report said this would be “for the purpose of transferring military manufacturing technology and manufacturing military supplies.”
Pakistan’s “Zardari praised Iraq as a historical and civilized country, and stressed his keenness to visit Baghdad, which comes as a source of pride and belief in the importance of Iraq in the Islamic and Middle Eastern world.”
Further, Pakistan is under the spotlight regarding Gaza. It could play a role in the US-backed ceasefire and stabilization efforts.
“Pakistan’s most powerful military chief in decades faces the toughest test of his newly amassed powers as Washington pushes Islamabad to contribute troops to the Gaza stabilization force, a move analysts say could spark domestic backlash,” Reuters noted.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia also signed an agreement in September. The Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement is now a key part of Islamabad’s outreach to Riyadh and the countries in the region.
Pakistan is therefore expected to play a greater role in the Middle East, which may have implications for the policies of various countries. Also, its close ties to the Trump administration will matter on policies related to Iran. Pakistan will likely oppose any destabilization in Iran, mainly because it is concerned about its Balochistan region, which borders Iran.