Riyadh to press Pakistan for more troops

By Farhan Bokhari

'‘Saudi Arabia is both a friend and a source of a continuing problem,’ says senior Pakistani official.''

Saudi Arabia is to press Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to boost the number of Pakistani troops in the kingdom to help bolster Riyadh’s defences against Islamist militants, including Daesh.Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan’s prime minister, lands in Riyadh on Wednesday to meet King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud.

While diplomats stress the close ties between the countries, Sharif’s trip — his third this year — comes amid profound challenges facing the bilateral relationship, not least the continued flow of funds from rich patrons in Saudi Arabia to Islamist hardliners within Pakistan. The countries’ close relationship has been built on common security interests going back to the 1970s, when the Saudi oil boom created employment for a large number of Pakistanis. Islamabad deepened the relationship in the ensuing years by assuming responsibility for some of Saudi Arabia’s internal security needs. “Saudi Arabia is both a friend and a source of a continuing problem,” said a senior Pakistani official ahead of Sharif’s departure. “This relationship provides opportunities and challenges.”

It is not clear how many Pakistani troops there are currently in Saudi Arabia, though it is understood the numbers deployed are modest. And analysts say Islamabad is cautious about broadening its security relationship with Riyadh. “There is uncertainty in the Middle East as Saudi Arabia deals with the wider [Daesh]-related challenge,” says Mahmoud Durrani, a former national security adviser to Sharif. “Pakistan has to be careful to avoid getting embroiled in a relationship with the Saudis which only exposes us to new controversies.”

Riyadh has grown more anxious about security after the takeover of Yemen by Al Houthi rebels, say Western diplomats who have followed the Saudi-Pakistan discussions over the past year. “The Saudis are very keen to boost their security apparatus, and Pakistan as a friend with a history of services to the kingdom is of great interest,” said one. Saudi Arabia — like Pakistan — faces a rising Islamist militant threat, while many accuse the government of having turned a blind eye to domestic preachers whose ideology underpins such groups. Private Saudi donations to Islamist extremist groups continue despite government attempts to stem the flow of cash.

Riyadh, which confronted a domestic Al Qaida insurgency in 2003-2006, is concerned about Daesh militants in Syria and Iraq seeking to target the kingdom. Saudi Arabia has built a defensive security fence along its border with Iraq, but Daesh militants managed to breach the border in January.

The Saudi-Pakistan defence relationship goes back to the 1970s, when Pakistan’s military dictator General Zia Ul Haq sent thousands of troops for security duties in the kingdom after Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution. “In the 1980s the Saudis were keen to keep Pakistani troops as this helped counter the Iranian threat,” says one former Pakistani army general who served in the kingdom. “For the Saudis, the relationship with Pakistan guarantees both against internal dissent and external threats”. Domestic security challenge

The relationship strengthened in 1998 when Saudi Arabia began giving oil to Pakistan to help the country overcome the effect of international financial sanctions following its maiden nuclear tests. The arrangement lasted almost three years. More recently in early 2014, Saudi Arabia lent $1.5 billion (Dh5.5 billion) to Pakistan to shore up the country’s foreign reserves after a visit to Islamabad by then crown prince Salman. The full terms of the loan were not revealed, although Pakistani finance ministry officials said at the time the loan was interest-free.

Analysts warn that it would be overly optimistic of Saudi Arabia to expect large-scale new deployments of troops from its neighbour amid a heightened domestic security challenge highlighted by the Taliban massacre of 150 people, mostly schoolchildren, in the northern Pakistani city of Peshawar. “Right now, we need our manpower at home as Pakistan deals with its own security challenges,” says Ikram Sehgal, a defence analyst. But Sehgal says Pakistan may seek to meet the Saudi request halfway, for example by sending fewer troops but for a longer-term deployment, with possible pledges of a quick reaction force if needed.

“Given the way this relationship has evolved, Pakistan is in no shape to go for an outright refusal to the Saudis,” he says. “A via media of some kind will have to be found which satisfies the Saudis without compromising Pakistan’s own interests.”