By Sant Kumar Sharma

 

Jammu, August 20: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan got a costly gift from Saudi Arabia through General Qamar Ahmed Bajwa on completion of two years in office on Tuesday. A royal snub, both literally and figuratively, as Saudi crown prince Mohammad bin Sultan refused to grant an audience to Bajwa.

 

 

Motormouth Qureshi had asked the Saudi Arabia to conduct a meeting of Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) to discuss Kashmir in a very threatening tone.

 

He had also said that Saudis should step aside if they didn't want to call this meeting as leader of the Islamic world. Pakistan PM Imran Khan would have to take initiative and call the meeting himself, Qureshi had said haughtily.

 

For situations unfolding in this manner, there is an interesting expression in Dogri language which goes something like this: Naani karay, dohtra chatti bharay. Loosely translated, it means "making grandson pay for grandmother's sins".

 

The downright disrespectful tone and demeanor towards Saudis displayed by Qureshi in a TV interview seen throughout the world may have cost Pakistan $1 billion, to begin with. This was a loan which Islamabad had to return immediately and equally interesting was that this repayment was done by taking a loan from China!

 

Not content with return of $1 billion, the Saudis also terminated the agreement for supplying oil on deferred payment to Pakistan worth $3.2 billion. There are also reports that the Saudia has now asked for return of another $1 billion pronto.

 

It is often said that a week is a long time in politics. Well, the wide gulf created between Saudis and Pakistan in last seven days sure illustrates that.

 

 

These may be three courses prescribed by Saudi Arabia to Bajwa indirectly, in his meetings with its military leadership on Monday. During last two years, Imran has failed to win approval of the masses throughout the country though he was handpicked by the Pak army.

 

The fourth course open to Bajwa is to replace Imran with someone sauve and thinking but that may look like a long shot right now. However, this is the easiest and most logical way forward for the General, the real power behind Imran. The dye may have been cast and at one time, it was believed that Qureshi was positioning himself as Imran's replacement by posing as a hardliner.

 

Devoured by Kashmir obsession, however, he seems to have ruled himself out by speaking against Saudis. It can then be the turn of some dark horse to emerge soon, as the phrase goes.

 

Incidentally, the next meltdown Pakistan may have to face during the coming days is some extraordinary heat from United Arab Emirates (UAE) which signed a deal with Israel some days ago. Islamabad has said nasty things about this deal brokered by US President Donald Trump.

 

It bears mention here that UAE provides jobs to over 1.6 million Pakistanis who remit approximately $20 billion back home. Saudi Arabia too is a big employer for the residents of empoverished nation which is facing severe balance of payments (BoP) crisis. For addressing the issue, it has rushed to International Monetary Fund (IMF) repeatedly to keep afloat.