Pakistan's new battleground
Saudi Arabia seeks Pakistan's assistance in the proxy war it is fighting with Iran
Sandeep Unnithan and Qaswar Abbas June 27, 2014 | UPDATED 15:54 IST
Saudi crown prince Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud (left) with Pakistan's Nawaz Sharif
Joint statements during both visits called for "the formation of a transitional governing body with full executive powers in Syria". Two visits by Pakistani army chief Raheel Sharif to Saudi Arabia in the span of just two months, February and April, underlined a growing military dimension to the relationship. A Pakistan defence ministry official confirmed the sale of "heavy and light weapons" to Saudi Arabia but declined to specify the types. During the Afghan war of 1979-88, Saudi Arabia bankrolled the predominantly Sunni Afghan Mujahideen's fight against a Soviet army of occupation.
Pakistan was then a conduit for funnelling arms and fighters into Afghanistan, just as it could be now in a three-year-old civil war which has torn apart Syria and Iraq. The civil war has created fresh worries for India, which has warily watched ISIS's stunning advance through Iraq. Of particular concern are reports of hundreds of Pakistani militants and former soldiers now bolstering the ranks of ISIS's assortment of Western-born fighters and Iraqi soldiers.
The Pakistani fighters are believed to be retired army personnel and civilians from militant groups like Hafiz Saeed's Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ). "Hundreds of our mujahideen have moved to Syria. Others are preparing to join them soon," Abu Wahab, commander of a pro-Pakistan militant group claimed. The groups in Iraq are believed to be from the 'pro-government' groups like LeT and LeJ, and not the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) that attacked Karachi airport on June 8, against which the Pakistan army has now launched an offensive in North Waziristan.
LeT and LeJ have participated in sectarian murders of Shias in Pakistan. A January 2014 report by the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies noted 687 sectarian killings in the country last year, a 22 per cent increase over 2013.
Ashok Behuria, a research scholar with the New Delhi-based Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), warns of the bigger dangers from the ISIS's territorial push and the collapse of the US-trained Iraqi army. "A radical Islamic arc all the way from Africa to West Asia alters the strategic landscape for India, as it boosts the morale of terrorist groups like LeT and al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan," he says. The militant groups could be emboldened to carry out attacks on India, particularly in Jammu & Kashmir and in Indian interests in Afghanistan from where US-led coalition forces will complete their withdrawal later this year, leaving the US-trained Afghan National Army to fight the Pakistan-backed Afghan Taliban.
The Saudi Arabia-Pakistan strategic axis could also impact on India's ties with the Kingdom. Since 2012, Riyadh has deported four terrorists wanted in India, including key 26/11 controller Abu Jundal. Indian diplomats recently reached out to the Saudis to help free Indian hostages held prisoner by Sunni insurgent groups in Mosul. This close relationship could undergo a sea change if Pakistan's ties with Saudi Arabia gather steam.
West Asia's brutal sectarian civil war now shows signs of becoming the Afghan conflict of the 21st century, primarily for its ability to attract a steady stream foreign fighters. The Pakistan foreign ministry is yet to impose travel restrictions on its nationals visiting Syria or Iraq, a move that could stem the flow of volunteers attracted by the ISIS's subversive social media recruitment campaign.
Major (retired) Agha Amin, a Lahore-based defence analyst, believes that Pakistani fighters went into Syria and Iraq with the tacit knowledge of the government. He mentioned Lt-General Hamid Gul, former chief of Pakistan's spy agency ISI between 1987 and 1989, as a key facilitator in the movement. The Pakistan army has refused to send serving troops or trainers into Syria and Iraq as this would be a clear violation of international law. The army has, however, supported Lt-General Hamid Gul's efforts to take former Pakistani soldiers to Iraq and Syria. "There is a strong possibility that the Mosul attack was supported by the Pakistani state, both civilian and military," Major Amin says.
Leaked US diplomatic cables in 2010, published by the website Wiki-Leaks, named Gul as being close to both al Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban. Interestingly, Lt-General Gul has headed Pakistan's ex-servicemen's association since September last year. The former ISI chief dismisses reports about the presence of Pakistanis in Iraq and his alleged role in sending them there. "I don't think there are any Pakistani fighters in Syria and Iraq. This sounds like propaganda from the West and India," he told India Today.
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Foreign Affairs Adviser Sartaj Aziz, however, termed reports of a Saudi-Pakistan military nexus as "misleading" and "rubbish". "Both countries stressed on the need to resolve the Syrian conflict according to the Geneva Resolutions," Aziz told INDIA TODAY. Ordinary Pakistanis, however, react with dread at the prospect of their involvement in yet another civil war. On June 13, Pakistani author Mohammed Hanif tweeted, "Uzbeks in Karachi, Pakistanis in Mosul. Is this what Allama Iqbal meant by Neel ke sahil se le kar, Ta Ba khak-e Kashgar (from the banks of the Nile to the deserts of Kashgar)". The approaching sounds of another distant war.
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