Graduate from GC University Lahore, Hailing from South Waziristan.
Pakistan is a country striving for stability since its inception. In 1947, when the country first ventured on the diplomatic mission, many astonished to see Pakistan sided with US-who was and is the super-power of the time. It was strange on the part of Pakistan to embrace US without considering the consequences. Question arises what circumstances compelled Pakistan to join the US block against USSR. The answer is simple: the national interest of the country.
It is quite evident, though from the realist perspective only, that politics is to pursue the national interest of a country. Every country, be it diplomatically or culturally, develops relations with other country for the sake of national interest. Without national interest there is no relation among the nations. So the current developments on the international platform are all the way for securing national interests.
Recently, the Malaysian government announced a summit called Kula Lumpur Summit. The aim of the summit was to address the burgeoning problems of Muslim countries. Many countries participated but still, a huge number of those invited was absent. Pakistan was among the later one. On the backdrop of this development, many people blindly criticized the Prime Minister of Pakistan. The fact that needs to be unveiled here is that Pakistan skips the summit only to avoid any injury to the national interest of the country.
Saudi Arabia remains a major destination for immigration amongst Pakistanis, the number of whom living in Saudi Arabia stands between 900,000 and 1 million. They remit nearly $6 billion from Saudi Arabia every year.
Secondly, Pakistan’s bilateral trade with Saudi Arabia stood at $1.871 billion in 2017-18 with exports amounting to $170 million and imports at $1.7 billion. The scale of trade is improving, though slowly.
Now things got crystal-clear from the fact that if you want to achieve what you want from someone, you have to provide them with what they want. This is what national interest and politics all about. Pakistan has done exactly the same to secure its national interests by surrendering to Saudi Arabia and skipping the Kuala Lumpur Summit.
It is no denying the fact that the importance of Kuala Lumpur cannot be ignored. The Summit had provided an international platform for Muslim leaders, intellectuals and scholars from around the world to discuss and exchange ideas about the important aspects of the current situation of Muslim countries. The summit, no doubt, would have given a lot of benefits to Pakistan, but still the country cannot risk its national interests.
The question now is whether Pakistan will be isolated politically or not? The answer is ‘NO’. There is strong argument behind this claim. Countries around the world would be attached to Pakistan until and unless Pakistan has the potential to fulfil their needs. So the question is isolating Pakistan is a far cry.