27/11/2020
Arab world moves closer to India. Pakistan bye bye.
UAE has stopped issuing visa to Pakistanis because of security reasons, say reports. The gulf is gradually pulling away from Pakistan and coming closer to India.
Pakistan has done enough, and more to disappoint its Arab allies.
But there are likely more reasons behind Arab World shunning Pakistan
Firstly, there is Pakistan's obsession with Kashmir. This obsession has been there since 1947. Pakistan has fought wars, framed its foreign policies around Kashmir, exported terror to Kashmir, moved world bodies over Kashmir.
And after India abolished the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan threatened the OIC Chair, Saudi Arabia just because it refused to hold a special session over Kashmir.
But Pakistan's threats to Riyadh were duly registered and that is one of the reasons why gulf countries sidelined Pakistan.
The gulf has grown to realise that anchoring ties on religion alone will not give it long term allies.
There are other aspects that the Arab world needs to acknowledge when picking sides between India and Pakistan.
The gulf has grown to realise that it needs to have India by its side as it heads into the future, opens up its economy and normalises ties with countries like Israel.
Saudi Arabia's bilateral trade with India amounts to USD 33.07 billion.
With Pakistan the number in 2017-18 was USD 1.8 billion.
The India-UAE bilateral trade stands at USD 60 billion. While Pakistan's trade volume with UAE stands at 8 billion dollars.
India is a vital economic partner of the gulf, With annual trade amounting to nearly 100 billion dollars. India also comes with far too many avenues of cooperation, From technology to oil.
India also offers investment opportunities, something that a bleeding economy like Pakistan does not.
West Asia is investing in India, and Indian companies have partnerships with their gulf counterparts.
At least 8 million Indians work in the region. Over 2.2 million of them work in the UAE alone.
So India has a multi-faceted relationship with the gulf countries. But Pakistan has questionable reputation. It is the world's biggest terror exporter. It is home to terror groups like Jamat ud-Dawah, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, the Hizbul Mujahideen
