Pakistan eyes Gulf investment, defence deals in return for playing peacemaker in Iran war

Pakistan is hoping that its role in building a diplomatic off-ramp from the US-Israel war on Iran will enable it to become a key actor in the Middle East after the conflict ends, analysts say.If Islamabad can deliver without being sucked into the maelstrom, it can capitalise on its position as peacemaker by signing defence deals with Gulf monarchies and attracting investment from them to strengthen its weak economy.This will help finance Pakistan’s military expansion for its envisioned new regional responsibilities and deterrence to long-standing enemy India, with which it fought a short air war last May.The role of mediator and regional security provider “is of both symbolic and substantive importance” for Islamabad, which has “long viewed itself as a key actor in the greater Middle East”, according to Husain Haqqani, a former Pakistan ambassador to the US.Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud (left) and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif meet at the Prime Minister’s House in Islamabad on Sunday. Photo: Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs/ Reuters“Symbolically, it brings prestige within the Muslim world and on the global stage,” he said. Pakistan also hopes this will translate into “much-needed economic investment and energy support” from the Gulf Arab countries, Turkey and the US.A closer defence and security relationship with the countries in the Middle East would “help Pakistan build its defence base which in turn, in Pakistan’s view, will send a warning message to India”, said Haqqani, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy.