Pakistan’s Relation with Muslim

World

Introduction:-

Pakistan is the second largest Muslim majority country and

the only Muslim majority nation to be declared as a nuclear power nation.

Pakistan has an independent foreign policy and its economy is rather

integrated into the world with strong ties to the Europe and Asian nations.
Pakistan has a strategic geo-political location at the corridor of world major
maritime oil supply lines, and has close relation to the resource and oil rich
central Asian countries. Following are some major points on its relation
with Muslim World.

1. Bilateral and Regional Relations:-

 Afghanistan:-

Pakistan and Afghanistan relations have always been close due to

cultural, ethnic and religious ties, yet conflicts over the Durand line, the
Soviet Afghan war, and Pakistan’s support to the Taliban regime, the role
of Pakistan in the War on Terror and the growing cross-border militancy
has strained relations between the two countries.

Being landlocked, Afghanistan relies on Pakistan for shipping links

with international markets. Pakistan first signed a Transit Trade Agreement
with Afghanistan in 1965. Under the terms of the new agreement, Afghan
truckers can traverse Pakistan and pick up cargo from the Pakistani port
cities of Karachi and Lahore.

 Iran:-
 Historically, Pakistan has always had close geopolitical, cultural
and religious ties with Iran. Iran was the first country to recognise the
newly independent state of Pakistan.

Trade between the countries has been increasing, with several large
infrastructure projects in the pipeline, including a possible rail network,
motorway and a controversial gas pipeline project. In February 2012,
Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Islamabad to participate in
trilateral talks including Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran. The meeting was
significant in that the Pakistan government came out strongly in support of
the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project, and also pledged to stand by Iran.

 Turkey:-
Relations between Pakistan and Turkey have traditionally been very
strong, with extensive cultural, economic and religious ties between the two
nations. Relations between the two countries were established soon after
independence, and in April 1954, a pact of friendship and cooperation was
signed between the two countries.

Turkey has always been a support of Pakistan towards Kashmir issue.

Turkey and Pakistan have strong military and strategic cooperation, with
the provision of equipment and military training soldiers. A trade
agreement has been signed between the two countries, and both have
sought to increase bilateral trade. Former and current leaders of Pakistan
have expressed the desire to progress in a similar model as that of Turkey
of modernism and secularism. The Prime Minister of Turkey, Recep Tayyip
Erdogan is the fourth world leader to have spoken in the Pakistani
parliament.

2. Pakistan's Role in the OIC:-

 Pakistan was a founding member of the OIC (Organisation of Islamic

Cooperation) in 1969.

 Pakistan has played an important role in strengthening cooperation

among Muslim States by its active participation in the programmes and
activities of the OIC.
  Pakistan is the Chairman of the OIC Standing Committee on
Scientific and Technologically Cooperation (COMSTECH) which has its
Headquarters in Islamabad.

 Pakistan also host the Secretariat of the Islamic Chamber of

Commerce and Industry (ICCI).The Office of the OIC's Secretary General's
Special Representative on Afghanistan is based in Islamabad.

3. Major Alliance:-

In 1964, Pakistan signed the Regional Cooperation for Development

(RCD) Pact with Turkey and Iran. RCD became defunct after the Iranian
Revolution, and a Pakistan-Turkish initiative led to the founding of
Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) in 1985. In 1974, Pakistan
became a critical entity in the militarisation of the OIC and has historically
maintained friendly relations with all the Arab and Muslim countries under
the banner of OIC.

Pakistan was a member of the Commonwealth under the name

'Dominion of Pakistan'. From 1956 to1972, the Islamic Republic of
Pakistan was a Commonwealth republic, when it was withdrawn in protest
at the Commonwealth's support of East Pakistan's secession and
Bangladesh's independence. In 1989, Pakistan regained its status as a
Commonwealth republic, which remains the case, despite Pakistan's
suspension from the Commonwealth of Nations between.

4. The Two Blocks:-

 Iraq (Shia):-
Cultural interaction and economic trade between Indus Valley and
Mesopotamia date back to 1800 BCE. In 1955 Iraq and Pakistan joined the
Baghdad Pact, a military alliance against the Soviet Union.

However, when the King of Iraq was assassinated in 1958, Iraq pulled
out of the Baghdad Pact, which was renamed as the Central Treaty
Organisation (CENTO). Tension persisted between Iraq and Pakistan
through the late twentieth and the early twenty-first centuries with the Iran-
Iraq War, the Gulf War, and the Iraq War.
  Saudi Arabia (Sunni):-

The relation between the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are extremely friendly. Pakistan has been called
"Saudi Arabia's closets Muslim ally".

Saudi Arabia promised to supply 50,000 barrels per day of free oil to
Pakistan. Pakistan maintains close military ties with Saudi Arabia
providing extensive support, arms and training for the Saudi armed forces.
Saudi Arabia was a major contributor to the construction of Faisal
Mosque in Islamabad.

4. Defence Contributions to Muslim World:-

Pakistan's Army Service School has trained up to 30 officers from
Muslim countries like Bangladesh, Bosnia, Maldives, and Palestine,
Turkey.
Pakistan Army Military College of Signals has trained more than 500
officers from places such as Burma, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bosnia, Gambia,
Ghana, Indonesia, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Kenya, Libya, Malaysia, Oman,
Nepal, Nigeria, Oman, Palestine, Sudan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Saudi
Arabia, Tanzania, Turkmenistan, Uganda, UAE and Zambia.

Pakistan is thought to have developed its atomic bomb program with aid
from Saudi Arabia and Libyan oil wealth. So, Pakistan and Muslim
countries go hand-in-hand, helping each other for the universal
brotherhood. In 1991 Pakistan got involved with the Gulf War and sent
5,000 troops for the defence of Saudi Arabia. Pakistan is a significant force
in the Muslim world.

6. Pakistan Role in Major Conflicts of Muslim World:-

 Kashmir Conflict :-
The Kashmir conflict is a territorial conflict primarily
between India and Pakistan, started just after the partition of India in 1947.
China has at times played a minor role. India and Pakistan have fought
three wars over Kashmir, including the Indo-Pakistani Wars of
1947 and 1965, as well as the Cargill War of 1999.
India, as a state, was committed to secular nationalism. It, therefore,
wanted to include Kashmir, mainly the Muslim state in order to
demonstrate its secularism. India argued that if a Muslim-majority area
 might flourish in the limits of a Hindu dominated state; India would have
been committed to secularism without any doubt.
For Pakistan, it was equally very much important to integrate Kashmir
into its dominion, as the homeland of the Muslims of South Asia. Its leaders
argued that their nation was incomplete without
inclusion of Kashmir.
The UN has failed to resolve Kashmir dispute due to resistance of the
Indian government. Kashmir wants independence from the Indian
Occupation.

 The Palestine Issue :-

Pakistan and Palestinian Authority have a very close and political

relationship. Pakistan and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)
had developed close ties. The PLO was first recognized as the sole
legitimate representative of the Palestinians at an Islamic summit in Lahore
in February 1974. This was approved six months later at an Arab summit in
Rabat. PLO missions in Karachi and Islamabad received full diplomatic
recognition in 1975.
Also in 1975, During the First Intifada that began in 1987, pro-PLO
rallies were held in Pakistan and the government sent the organization food
and medical supplies. After the Palestinian Declaration of Independence on
November 15, 1988, Pakistan then recognized the Palestinian Authority on
16 November 1988 and had established full diplomatic relations with it by
the end of 1989.

 The Gulf War :-

In 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait due to the increasing political
tensions between the two Arab nations. Pakistan endorsed the United
States-led military campaign against Iraq, with Chief of Army staff,
General Aslam Beg and Chairman Joint Chiefs Admiral Iftekhar Sarahi
overseeing the deployment of the Pakistan Armed Forces Middle East
Contingent forces.
General Beg accused Western countries of encouraging Iraq to invade
Kuwait, though he continued to lead his armed forces against Iraq in
support of Saudi Arabia.
 As Iraq's war with Kuwait divided Pakistanis, Beg carefully
commanded and deployed the Pakistan Armed Forces' contingent forces
during the Operation Desert Storm.
After the 1991 Gulf War, Iraq began building closer relations with India.
On 6 August 2002, President Saddam Hussein conveyed Iraq's
"unwavering support" to India over the Kashmir dispute with Pakistan.
India and Iraq established joint ministerial committees and trade
delegations to promote extensive bilateral co-operation.

 Afghan Refugees:-
The first wave of Afghan refugees to Pakistan began during the Soviet
war in Afghanistan. The UNHCR reported in February 2017 that about 1.3
million registered Afghan citizens still remained in Pakistan, distributed as
follows:
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (81 percent);
Punjab (10 percent);
Balochistan (seven percent) and
Sindh (one percent).

They are primarily Afghanistan's Pashtuns, followed by Tajiks,

Hazaras, Uzbeks, Balochand Turkmen.
In March 2012, Pakistan banned visa extensions for all foreigners. In
September 2018, Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan made a surprise
announcement pledging to grant citizenship to 1.5 million Afghan refugees
resident in Pakistan.

 Crisis in Muslim World after 9/11 :-

Military cooperation between the United States and Pakistan has
undergone in a great crisis since the terrorist attacks of September 11,
2001. Moribund at the end of the Cold War, when concerns about
nuclear proliferation and the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan
diminished Pakistan’s importance in the eyes of U.S. policymakers,
bilateral military cooperation accelerated during the Bush and
Musharraf administrations.
In 2006, U.S. arms sales to Islamabad topped $3.5 billion (PDF) nearly
matching total purchases by Pakistan from the United States during the
fifty years prior to 2001. Now, with Pakistan’s tribal areas serving as the
base of operations for Taliban and al-Qaeda operatives in Afghanistan, the
United States has tried to strengthen these bonds. But U.S. covert military
operations inside Pakistan along the Afghan border (including revelations
of possible ground raids by U.S. Special Operations Forces), Pakistan’s
political instability, and Islamabad’s questionable record on terrorism
have thrown one of America’s most important military alliances into
disarray.
References:-
 Pakistan and the Muslim World .(Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto)
 Foreign Relations of Pakistan. (CIDOB International Year Book 2012)
 A Brief History of Kashmir Conflict.(Telegraph)
 U.S-Pakistan Military Cooperation.(Greg Bruno and Jayshree Bajoria)
 Wikipedia.(Iraq-Pakistan Relation; Foreign Relation Of Pakistan;
Pakistan - KSA Relation)