Pakistan injured by PM Modi’s foreign policy, India’s penetration in Islamic countries increased
During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s tenure, positive results of changes in India’s foreign policy have started coming out.
During the tenure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, positive changes have started coming to the fore in the changes in India’s foreign policy. Due to this foreign policy, not only has the value of India increased on the global forums, but the Islamic countries who have kept a certain distance from New Delhi are also coming closer to it. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia dispute is a proof of this.
So far, six Muslim countries have honored Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his highest civilian award. In 2016, Saudi Arabia awarded PM Modi its highest civilian honor, the King Abdulaziz Sash Award. The UAE honored the Prime Minister of the country with the Order of Zayed, the highest civilian honor in 2019. Similarly, Bahrain and Maldives in 2019, Palestine in 2018 and Afghanistan in 2016 have also awarded PM Modi the highest civilian honor of the country. All these honors reflect Prime Minister Modi’s close ties with Islamic countries.
In contrast, Pakistan is now being sidelined in international forums due to its anti-India statements. Recently, Pakistan faced humiliation at the hands of Saudi Arabia, when Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman refused to meet Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa. Bajwa and ISI chief Ruthe were camping in Riyadh for two days to convince Saudi Arabia, but the Crown Prince did not meet them.
The sourness in relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia is a symbol of changing equations in the Islamic world. In particular, there are 53 countries in the world where Islam is the largest religion, and Saudi Arabia is considered the most powerful of these countries. There are three major reasons for this. The first is that Saudi Arabia has 18 percent of the world’s oil reserves. Second, its economy is very strong among Arab countries and the third and most important reason is Mecca-Medina. Except Qatar, Kuwait and Iraq, Saudi Arabia maintains good relations with all other countries of the Arab League, and 20 percent of the world’s Muslim population lives in these Arab countries.
Things are changing now
Pakistan is also a member of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). It ranks second in the world in terms of Muslim population after Indonesia, and is the only Islamic nation with nuclear power. For this reason, many Islamic countries do not dare to go against Pakistan and often support it. However, now the situation has changed. Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have come face to face on India’s issue and the Crown Prince has refused to support Pakistan. Actually, Pakistan wants Saudi Arabia to put its tone on Kashmir issue, but Saudi Arabia is not ready for this. Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi used sharp words against Saudi Arabia for this, after which the relationship between the two countries broke down.
After Qureshi’s rhetoric, Saudi Arabia asked Pakistan to refund the loan of Rs 7500 crore and Pakistan extended the bag to China for this. In 2018, Saudi Arabia has given a loan of 46000 crores rupees to save Pakistan’s economy. Reports said that Saudi Arabia has also asked Pakistan to pay another installment of Rs 7500 crore.
Anti-India agenda did not get support
This is a major diplomatic victory for India, as it is the first time the Arab nation has supported India on the Kashmir issue. Pakistan has also failed to convene a high-level meeting of the OIC to advance its anti-India agenda through Kashmir. India has succeeded in separating Pakistan from the Arab block, which now stands like a rock with India. This development has shaken Pakistan. The Pakistan Army chief and the ISI chief were sent to Saudi Arabia to control the situation, but had to return empty-handed. Experts believe that Pakistan is also showing its back to Saudi Arabia at the behest of China, which wants Pakistan to emerge as the leader of the Islamic world.
Imran Khan still has hope
However, in an interview, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan claimed that his relations with Saudi Arabia are still strong and he is trying to connect the Muslim world. Imran says that the news of sourness in our relations with Saudi Arabia is completely wrong. He also said that on the Kashmir issue we believe that the OIC should have gone ahead. Saudi Arabia has its own foreign policy and we cannot think that we will do what we want. Pakistan currently has an international debt of Rs 43 lakh crore, which is 90 percent of its GDP. Pakistan pays interest of Rs 1.60 lakh crore every year. In such a situation, Pakistan may have to pay a heavy price after losing the support of Islamic countries.
