Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud has said that Kashmir is a disputed territory, stressing that the Kingdom is ready to play its role in resolving the issue, as well as easing tension between Pakistan and India. In an interview during his maiden visit to India, he emphasized that Pakistan and India should focus on a path of dialogue to resolve issues in a way that can settle concerns permanently. As Saudi Arabia enjoyed a unique position in the Islamic world, the Muslim Ummah expects it to play a lead role in promoting Muslim causes, help resolve issues involving Muslims and alleviate sufferings of the oppressed Muslim communities. Riyadh has not disappointed the Muslim world as it has been playing a proactive role on all these accounts despite intricacies of regional and global politics.
The Saudi offer to play a role in resolving the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir and easing tension between Pakistan and India is a welcome development as the Kingdom was surely in a position to do so because of extremely cordial relations with Pakistan and a strong leverage with India. The most important aspect of the statement of the Saudi Foreign Minister is that he did not mince words while giving an interview during his India visit and plainly stated that Kashmir was a dispute and had to be resolved. But the problem with this line of reasoning is that Delhi at the same time refuses to begin bilateral negotiations with Pakistan on the most contentious issues, particularly Kashmir. That is how it has been able to fend off any progress on the issue for the longest time. There is, of course, also the pull of its immense market that tends to keep other governments, especially those friendly with it, from giving too much attention to ordinary things like human rights, international law, etc.
Pakistan, for its part, has still been able to make progress; especially over the last couple of years. Islamabad’s strategy to counter the paralysis in the international community is to present facts and data from on-ground sources and present its findings for the world to see and take notice. Prime Minister Imran Khan is due to speak at the United Nations once again in a few days, and no doubt he will bring up the issue of Kashmir, just like he’s done at all important international forums.
Slowly but surely, in this way Pakistan expects a number of countries to come round to its point of view. And it is a good sign that Muslim countries like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), who’ve never really stood by us on the matter of Kashmir because of their own relations with Delhi, are also beginning to show some measured concern. The Suadi FM was careful to add, though, that the timing of any such initiative would depend on Islamabad and Delhi, which is how it should be. But when only one of the two principle players is interested in playing ball, and the other practically bends over backwards to retard any sort of progress on matters even remotely related to the logjam in South Asia, then everybody’s mettle is tested. Time, therefore, will tell if Riyadh is able to help matters at all.
Shafaqna Pakista
pakistan.shafaqna.com
