Pakistan caught between Iran and Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

Pakistan claims to maintain neutrality in the Iran–Saudi rift. Sustaining this approach, however, has been problematic against a backdrop of intensifying Iran–Saudi rivalry. Pakistan’s choices suggest a tilt towards Saudi Arabia. Based on extensive fieldwork in Islamabad, this paper focuses on the meanings and uses of neutrality in Pakistan’s foreign policy. The paper argues that Pakistan cannot be neutral due to its stronger cultural, economic and defence ties with Saudi Arabia but it promotes this rhetoric due to a combination of demographic, geographic and geopolitical factors. Islamabad’s claim of neutrality serves the dual purpose of the national interests in relation to domestic and foreign affairs. Based on its economic, sectarian and geopolitical realities, Pakistan desires a neutrality in the Iranian-Saudi rivalry but it is very difficult because it has strong and multifaceted relations with Saudi Arabia. Based on the assessment of Pakistan’s foreign policy choices, we argue that Pakistan continues to lean away from Iran towards Saudi Arabia.

KEYWORDS:

• Pakistan
• Iran
• Saudi Arabia
• neutrality
• foreign policy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 [The Majlis-e-Shoora/Parliament] expresses unequivocal support for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and affirms that in case of any violation of its territorial integrity or any threat to Haramain Sharifain, Pakistan will stand shoulder to shoulder with Saudi Arabia and its people (GOP 2015).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Carnegie Corporation of New York [grant number G-18-55949].

Notes on contributors

Zahid Shahab Ahmed

Dr. Zahid Shahab Ahmed specialises in peace and security in South Asia and the Middle East. He presently works as a Research Fellow at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University, Australia. During 2013-16, he was Assistant Professor at the Centre for International Peace and Stability, National University of Sciences and Technology in Pakistan. He has published extensively on Pakistan's foreign relations and security issues in South Asia and the Middle East. He is the author of Regionalism and Regional Security in South Asia: The Role of SAARC (New York: Routledge, 2013).

Shahram Akbarzadeh

Prof. Shahram Akbarzadeh is Research Professor of Middle East & Central Asian Politics and Convenor of Middle East Studies Forum (MESF) at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University, Australia. He has an active research interest in the politics of Central Asia, Islam, Muslims in Australia and the Middle East. He has published extensively in his field of expertise in leading outputs. Among his latest publications is The Politics and International Relations of the Middle East: Crisis Zone, with K. Baxter (Routledge 2018).