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| Bolstering Pak-Iran relations |
| Dr. Raja Muhammad Khan |
| The security concerns of Southwest Asian countries are extremely complicated. Since October 2001, Afghanistan is under foreign occupation in the garb of so-called global war on terror. The ill-fated country otherwise had a dreadful past of Soviet invasion and civil war since late 1970s. Security and stability in Afghanistan is indeed a linchpin in the security of Iran and Pakistan. Owing to the presence of foreign forces in the region, Iran’s security concerns are primarily towards Gulf region and West Asia, whereas it has secondary threats from its north and east. Apart from intense terrorization, Pakistan is facing from within, it is managing security challenges on its eastern as well as western borders simultaneously. Any development either from the Persian Gulf or from the South Asia would seriously effect the security situation of Iran and Pakistan alike.
Apart from the aforesaid security scenario, there is another dimension of the relationship of these countries. This particular aspect deals with their relations with extra-regional countries, who indeed “are not friends of friends”, thus don’t enjoy similar relations with all other countries of the region. These alliances indeed have been the main sources of deformation in their bi-lateral relationship. As an example; the closer partnership and strategic nature of Indo-Iran alliance is one of the main causes of differences between Iran and Pakistan. In fact, India never misses a chance to harm Pakistan in the regional as well as global politics.
It has created a number of problems for Pakistan, both internally as well as externally. Pakistan feels that growing Indo-Iran relationship has undermined the Pakistani position in the region. On January 25, 2003, during the visit of Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, Iran and India signed “The New Delhi Declaration” which states; “the two sides recognise that their growing strategic convergence needs to be underpinned with a strong economic relationship. Energy sector has been identified as a strategic area of their future relationship in which interests of India and Iran complement each other. India and Iran also agreed to explore opportunities for cooperation in defence in agreed areas, including training and exchange of visit”.
Iran’s tacit support of India for the role it is playing in Afghanistan also creates concern for Pakistan. While being in Afghanistan, India is harbouring and abetting the terrorists who have created internal instability in Pakistan. Pakistan has been critically viewing this alliance, because it feels that behind the scene India is playing a dangerous game of blemishing the Pak-Iran relations. Although both Pakistan and Iran have been the allies of US during the cold war era, but in the post-1979 scenario, Pak-US relations have been taken very seriously by Iran. Pakistan’s relations with Arab world and the stress in the Iran-Saudi relations also had a serious impact on Pak-Iran relationship.
Since the chill in the Pak-Iran relations had its origin in Afghanistan, mainly because of inability of both to accommodate each other’s interests, therefore; “the Taliban’s retreat from Kabul has nudged Pakistan and Iran into ending decade-old frosty relations and working to accommodate each other’s strategic and economic interests in Afghanistan”. In the wordings of Sartaj Aziz, the former Pakistani Foreign Minister; “In the future shaping of things in Afghanistan, both countries do not have much role to play. Pakistan has been saying repeatedly that it is for the Afghans to decide about their future. So now the environment is conducive to enhance economic and commercial cooperation”.
Historically, neither Iran nor Pakistan has ever posed a security threat to each other. For a sagacious dealing with the issues like Jundullah attacks in Iranian territory or the anti-state activities of sub-nationalists in Pakistan, authorities of both countries must comprehend that “If the Baloch were on board in the first place, infiltrating the harsh terrain of Balochistan by foreign actors would have been a lot less possible over the years”.
Indeed the gulf between the successive Federal Governments and the people of Balochistan has widened over the years. Provincial governments and provincial representatives at the federal level were mostly sardars or selected blue-eyed of the governments of the time. This lot of ‘only some’ did not ensure social development, needed for the betterment of masses. Resultantly, socio-economic conditions of the general masses of the province have gone from bad to worst.
These poverty ridden people over the years felt deprived and became an easy target available to be exploited either by the foreign powers through their intelligence apparatus or some of the local sardars, who otherwise had historical connections with outside powers since the colonial rule in the region. As some of them were enjoying the status of the head of autonomous princely states, therefore had the anguish of losing the power to federation.
There have been similar problems in the Sistan-o-Balochistan of Iran. Being outlying and tribal society by nature, Iranian Government like Pakistan could not pay worthwhile attention for the improvement of the living standard of the people of Sistan-o-Balochistan. Otherwise, both provinces; Pakistani and Iranian Balochistans are sparsely populated with poor infrastructure and vast inhospitable areas, difficult to be maintained, until dedicated local representatives exhibit keenness.
In spite of being the subjects of two sovereign states, the masses of both provinces still maintain their historical linkages and therefore share their common distresses. Over the years, both become conscious of the fact that they are being exploited and no serious efforts have been made by either government to improve their living standard through the development of the area. The unremitting sentiments of deprivation lead them to be used by sub-nationalists, whose real agendas were other than the local development and uplift of the Baloch masses. Similarly the religious organisation like Jundulla who indeed maintained its connection with the international spying agencies is being used for multiple purposes like; creating a rift between Iran and Pakistan, domestic destabilization of Iran and finally creating grounds for the unification of both provinces into an independent state of Balochistan. Some of the think tanks and analysts of United States have already envisaged the scenario and Indian spying agency along with its strategic partners is otherwise undertaking ground work to pave way for the implementation of that.
The question arises how long Pak-Iran relations would be driven by non state actors and extra-regional powers, particularly those who have been friends of none, but portraying as such. Why cannot wisdom prevail and both countries reconcile the bad patch of last almost 20 years to take a fresh start to revitalize their historical bilateral relations. At the level of the people, there have been no differences. Rather the disagreeable relationship at the level of governments have been taken unenthusiastically by the masses on both sides, who because of religious and cultural affinities desire an easy access to either country. Indeed, with the post Taliban Government in Afghanistan, there have been left hardly any basis for preserving a disparity between Pakistan and Iran. NATO and US forces are pursuing their interests and they have taken along India, a geographically non-contagious and non-Muslim country to become a successor state, if at all they like to leave the region in a foreseeable future. Otherwise, it appears that US and NATO have a long-term plan to stay in the region. The situation thus calls for an enhanced level of cooperation and joint strategy between Iran and Pakistan to tackle with, rather getting embroiled into blame game without any logical conclusion.
In coordination with Karzai Government, Iran and Pakistan should take active part in the re-construction of the Afghanistan and make long-term investment with the multiple objectives like: one; to assure their Afghan brethren that they have not abandoned them and are making earnest efforts to rehabilitate them. Two; to constrict the space for all extra-regional forces which in the guise of supporting the Afghan people are indeed promoting their own long-term interests. In such a case Iran will have to say goodbye to its trailblazer ally; India and Pakistan to limit the ties with its seasonal friend United States of America.
drmk_edu@yahoo.com |
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