As last week was coming to an end and Prime Minister Imran Khan’s administration was busy preparing for the arrival of Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammad Bin Salman (MBS) in Islamabad, a major distraction took place in Pulwama which cast a dark cloud over the festivities. The Pakistani state, however, did not allow itself to get distracted and focused solely on the arrival of the royal guest.
In the third week of October last year, Prime Minister Imran Khan attended the investment conference in Riyadh which was marketed as the ‘Davos in the Desert’ and was aimed at attracting investment in the country. The conference took place barely 20 days after the gruesome killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Many countries stayed away from the conference because of this murder. But the cash-strapped PTI government made the right calculation by attending the conference at a time when MBS, the impulsive young prince, was under tremendous pressure. He had already irritated Jordan, Qatar and even detained Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri in November 2017, besides continuing the genocidal war in Yemen.
Imran Khan and his party, which had ended the boycott of the parliament in April 2015 at the start of the Yemen war and opposed the Saudi position, forgot all about that and decided to side with the architect of the war. This led to the warming up of relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Recall that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was not even allowed to speak at the conference of the “Islamic NATO” in May 2017.
It is in this backdrop that the de facto Saudi ruler decided to launch his diplomatic tour. The tour originally included Malaysia, Indonesia but that changed after the Pulwama attack on February 14. Not only was the visit to Pakistan delayed by a day and the far eastern leg of the tour cancelled, but news emerged that Indians would not welcome the Saudi prince if he came straight from Islamabad. That is why the prince arrived in Islamabad on Sunday evening rather than Saturday. After a 20-hour sojourn, which was touted as a two-day visit in the media, the prince flew back to Riyadh to calm the Indians, as they would not welcome him if his plane took off from Islamabad and arrived in Delhi.
Extraordinary arrangements were made to welcome the prince in the federal capital. TV channels aired special programmes, newspapers ran supplements and put up ads to welcome the de facto Saudi ruler. Besides this, banners welcoming MBS appeared all over the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, and a public holiday was declared in the area. Hundreds of check posts were set up and the twin cities were in a virtual curfew for two days in a row.
An overexcited chairman of the senate not only gave a gold-plated Kalashnikov assault rifle as a gift to the prince, but also put up a big welcome banner over the parliament.
In this hullabaloo, the ruling party made sure to keep the opposition parties at bay and did not invite their leaders to any of the events organised for the visiting dignitary. The only exceptions to this were some senators of the PML-N, who got an audience with the prince.
Prime Minister Imran Khan and the army chief received the crown prince at the tarmac. The prime minister also provided chauffeuring services to MBS.
The government had to face some embarrassment on Monday, when Saudi Minister of State Adil Al Jubair went on a long rant against Iran during a joint press conference with Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi. Shah Mehmood was dumbfounded and couldn’t say anything afterwards.
The press conference was aired live and made the task of news anchors on Pakistan TV channels very difficult as they had to talk over the incendiary comments of the first Saudi foreign minister picked out of the Royal family. This is despite the fact that Jubair has significant diplomatic experience, including being the former top diplomat in the United States of America. The Iranians were already jittery after the attack on Revolutionary Guards convoy, killing 27 people near Zahedan in Iranian Baluchistan barely two days before the Pulwama attack. The statement by Saudi minister on Pakistani soil flanked by the Pakistani foreign minister could have devastating repercussions in the days ahead.
Interestingly, Prime Minister remained silent over the Pulwama till the departure of Crown Prince MBS. As the Indian government - including Prime Minister Modi - hit Pakistan hard, Imran Khan tweeted about winter rain and protested over NAB’s arrest of a scholar, but chose to keep silent on the Pulwama attack.
On Tuesday, February 19, Imran Khan finally broke his silence and put out a heavily edited six-minute address to the nation. He invited India to start dialogue with Pakistan and expressed solidarity with the victims of the attack. The statement was quickly rejected by the Indian government, as voices against Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) Chief Masood Azhar grew louder around the world.
It was an almost inevitable partnership: cash-strapped Pakistan and a prince seeking legitimacy in a marriage of convenience. PM Imran Khan, clasping his hands, made a plea for mercy for 2,100 Pakistani prisoners jailed on minor offences in the prince’s kingdom. The next day, the prince announced the release.
Pakistan also got the Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) worth $20 billion, which also includes an oil refinery in Gwadar.
On Wednesday, the Saudi crown prince condemned the Pulwama attack and spoke of cooperation with India on matters of security. He also announced a whopping $100 billion deal in India, substantially bigger than the agreement inked in Pakistan.
In the third week of October last year, Prime Minister Imran Khan attended the investment conference in Riyadh which was marketed as the ‘Davos in the Desert’ and was aimed at attracting investment in the country. The conference took place barely 20 days after the gruesome killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Many countries stayed away from the conference because of this murder. But the cash-strapped PTI government made the right calculation by attending the conference at a time when MBS, the impulsive young prince, was under tremendous pressure. He had already irritated Jordan, Qatar and even detained Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri in November 2017, besides continuing the genocidal war in Yemen.
In this hullabaloo, the ruling party made sure to keep the opposition parties at bay and did not invite their leaders to any of the events organised for the visiting dignitary
Imran Khan and his party, which had ended the boycott of the parliament in April 2015 at the start of the Yemen war and opposed the Saudi position, forgot all about that and decided to side with the architect of the war. This led to the warming up of relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Recall that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was not even allowed to speak at the conference of the “Islamic NATO” in May 2017.
It is in this backdrop that the de facto Saudi ruler decided to launch his diplomatic tour. The tour originally included Malaysia, Indonesia but that changed after the Pulwama attack on February 14. Not only was the visit to Pakistan delayed by a day and the far eastern leg of the tour cancelled, but news emerged that Indians would not welcome the Saudi prince if he came straight from Islamabad. That is why the prince arrived in Islamabad on Sunday evening rather than Saturday. After a 20-hour sojourn, which was touted as a two-day visit in the media, the prince flew back to Riyadh to calm the Indians, as they would not welcome him if his plane took off from Islamabad and arrived in Delhi.
Extraordinary arrangements were made to welcome the prince in the federal capital. TV channels aired special programmes, newspapers ran supplements and put up ads to welcome the de facto Saudi ruler. Besides this, banners welcoming MBS appeared all over the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, and a public holiday was declared in the area. Hundreds of check posts were set up and the twin cities were in a virtual curfew for two days in a row.
An overexcited chairman of the senate not only gave a gold-plated Kalashnikov assault rifle as a gift to the prince, but also put up a big welcome banner over the parliament.
In this hullabaloo, the ruling party made sure to keep the opposition parties at bay and did not invite their leaders to any of the events organised for the visiting dignitary. The only exceptions to this were some senators of the PML-N, who got an audience with the prince.
Prime Minister Imran Khan and the army chief received the crown prince at the tarmac. The prime minister also provided chauffeuring services to MBS.
The government had to face some embarrassment on Monday, when Saudi Minister of State Adil Al Jubair went on a long rant against Iran during a joint press conference with Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi. Shah Mehmood was dumbfounded and couldn’t say anything afterwards.
The press conference was aired live and made the task of news anchors on Pakistan TV channels very difficult as they had to talk over the incendiary comments of the first Saudi foreign minister picked out of the Royal family. This is despite the fact that Jubair has significant diplomatic experience, including being the former top diplomat in the United States of America. The Iranians were already jittery after the attack on Revolutionary Guards convoy, killing 27 people near Zahedan in Iranian Baluchistan barely two days before the Pulwama attack. The statement by Saudi minister on Pakistani soil flanked by the Pakistani foreign minister could have devastating repercussions in the days ahead.
Interestingly, Prime Minister remained silent over the Pulwama till the departure of Crown Prince MBS. As the Indian government - including Prime Minister Modi - hit Pakistan hard, Imran Khan tweeted about winter rain and protested over NAB’s arrest of a scholar, but chose to keep silent on the Pulwama attack.
On Tuesday, February 19, Imran Khan finally broke his silence and put out a heavily edited six-minute address to the nation. He invited India to start dialogue with Pakistan and expressed solidarity with the victims of the attack. The statement was quickly rejected by the Indian government, as voices against Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) Chief Masood Azhar grew louder around the world.
It was an almost inevitable partnership: cash-strapped Pakistan and a prince seeking legitimacy in a marriage of convenience. PM Imran Khan, clasping his hands, made a plea for mercy for 2,100 Pakistani prisoners jailed on minor offences in the prince’s kingdom. The next day, the prince announced the release.
Pakistan also got the Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) worth $20 billion, which also includes an oil refinery in Gwadar.
On Wednesday, the Saudi crown prince condemned the Pulwama attack and spoke of cooperation with India on matters of security. He also announced a whopping $100 billion deal in India, substantially bigger than the agreement inked in Pakistan.