ISLAMABAD: The Qatar – Saudi Arabia tensions have placed Pakistan and as well as Nawaz Sharif in a difficult position.The Qatari test for Pakistan comes amid tensions with India, Iran and Afghanistan.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has his own reasons for better ties with Qatar as his family is being probed in Panama leaks scandal where Qatari Prince Hamad bin Jasim bin Jaber Al-Thani is playing a role to rescue them.
On the other hand, Riyadh has saved Sharif’s life in the past when military ruler Pervez Musharraf had imprisoned him after a coup in 1999.
Also, they have always economically helped Pakistan – especially when Sharif is in power.
A senior government official said that Pakistan was finding it hard to keep the all sides happy.
“There is tension all around. We have differences with Afghanistan. We are trying to placate Iran and there is tension along the Line of Control (LOC). Amid all this, we have been thrown into a new test [by Saudi Arabia],” he contended.
On Monday, Qatari Prince Hamad bin Jasim bin Jaber Al-Thani regretted that he could not appear before the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) probing the Panama Papers case against the Sharif family as he was ‘busy’.
Earlier, Hussain Nawaz – Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s son – had requested the JIT to allow the Qatari prince to record his statement through video link.
The JIT quashed the plea on Monday.
However, a letter by Qatri prince was delivered to the JIT in which he maintained that he could not personally attend the proceedings.
Saudi Arabia may not officially ask Pakistan to cut diplomatic ties with Qatar but Riyadh will definitely expect Islamabad to show solidarity.
Pakistan recently allowed former army chief Raheel Sharif to command a Saudi Arabia-led military alliance of 39 Muslim states.
The alliance was formed by the kingdom in December 2015 with its headquarters in Riyadh.
Iran had objected to the formation of the alliance fearing it was a Sunni-alliance rather than a Muslim alliance.
The government had also delayed approval to Raheel – considering Iran’s objections – for several months before finally giving a nod to the former army chief.