NEW DELHI: As the United States continues to hit Iran, and Tehran keeps up its retaliatory actions across the Persian Gulf on Washington’s installations, Pakistan finds itself poised precariously on an agonising geopolitical precipice.
Islamabad’s immediate priorities go beyond an effective bulwark against collateral damage. While prioritising energy imports and remittances, border security along the 900 km Iran frontier, sectarian tensions at home, and playing the potential mediator, Islamabad is getting closer to being a direct party in the war.
Such a situation upsets its stand as a neutral negotiator between Washington and Tehran. Pakistan’s Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement with Saudi Arabia has already resulted in the deployment of thousands of Pakistani troops and advanced fighter jets to the Kingdom.
That presence threatens to pull Islamabad directly into the crossfire as the Middle East is careening toward an all-out war. Historically, Pakistan has gone to great lengths to play the role of the regional tightrope walker, despite the political and economic volatility back home.
Sharing its western border with Iran, possessing the world’s second-largest Shi’ite population, and maintaining deep, foundational ties with Saudi Arabia, Pakistan’s survival depends on avoiding regional entanglements.
However, the realities of modern warfare and binding security alliances have fundamentally altered this calculus. Following the American and allied strikes targeting Iranian coastal defences, alleged missile sites, and other infrastructure, Tehran and its proxy networks have increasingly struck back on nearby US installations.
By targeting forward-deployed American assets and commercial shipping routes, Iran’s retaliatory arc has repeatedly encroached into Gulf territory, including Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. This brings into play the highly consequential Pakistan-Saudi Arabia mutual defence pact.
Signed against a backdrop of escalating regional uncertainty, the treaty dictates that any aggression against either nation will be considered aggression against both. The pact is akin to the one among NATO signatories.
Crucially, senior Pakistani defence officials have previously signalled that this overarching security arrangement extends to providing a nuclear umbrella for Saudi Arabia. To honour these mutual defence commitments, say reports, Pakistan has already deployed over 8,000 troops, a full squadron of JF-17 fighter jets, and Chinese-made air defence systems to the Kingdom. (IANS)
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