Pakistan and West Asia By Imtiaz H. Bokhari, Institute of Strategic Studies, Islamabad

Abstract

State to state relations between Pakistan and Southwest Asian states date
back to the birth of Pakistan in 1947, but the ideological bonds are much older.
In 1946, it was late king (then prince) Faisal who chaperoned the Pakistan
Movement delegation headed by Mr. Isphahani that visited the United Nations
and got sympathetic ears to its pleas? Again, the Saudi king was the
first head of state to felicitate Mohammad Ali Jinnah after learning of the
Viceroy’s decision to grant independence to Pakistan and India. Equally warm
and sincere support came from Iran.
Pakistan and West Asia: Evolution of Relations
Immediately on achieving independence, Pakistan displayed notable enthusiasm
in advocating the cause of Islam and Islamic states but soon learnt
to be more patient. Pakistan’s call for Islamic unity was seen by the Arabs
as a move to stifle nascent Arab nationalism at the instigation of the West.
These developments corresponded to the early 50s when Pakistan, under intense
threat from India, signed the Mutual Defense Aid pact with the United
States and became a suspect in the eyes of the Arabs who thought of Pakistan
as an instrument of the West. Pakistan's joining of the Baghdad Pact in 1954
along with Iraq was also interpreted by the Arab nationalist leaders as a neocolonial
move to divide the Arab world. Saudis even called it a stab in the
heart of the Arab and Muslim states. In 1956, Indian Prime Minister Jawahar
Lal Nehru’s warm welcome in Saudi Arabia followed by the Suez Crisis put
Pakistan’s relations with those important Islamic states at their lowest level.
During that period the Arabs viewed the region mostly in the Arab and non-Arab context ...