The hugely successful visit of Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed to Pakistan a few days ago represents one of Prime Minister Khan’s greatest foreign policy accomplishments yet because it proved that his country’s “balancing” act between regional powers is capable of turning latent rivals into trusted partners.
The Emirati Breakthrough
Pakistani and Arab media are celebrating the hugely successful visit of Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed (MBZ) to Pakistan earlier this week and lauding the $6.2 billion support package that he provided to the South Asian state. The personal comradery between the Emirati leader and Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan was on full display for the whole world to see, proving that whatever distrust might have emerged in 2015 after Islamabad refused to dispatch troops to assist the joint Saudi-Emirati war in Yemen has dissipated and been replaced by nothing but the best feelings towards one another.
This is an astounding reversal of the geostrategic situation in recent years after it seemed like the decades-long Pakistani-Emirati Strategic Partnership had become a thing of the past following the fallout over Islamabad’s independent decision three years and India’s resultant exploitation thereof in order to position itself as the UAE’s new regional ally. Nevertheless, in spite of the positive advancements in Indian-Emirati relations since that time – including most notably the agreement late last year to jointly invest in Africa – PM Khan was able to cleverly leverage his country’s “balancing” act in order to save one of Pakistan’s most important partnerships.
The Saudi Path To Success
It’s well known that MBZ mentors Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS), who hosted PM Khan after the election during his first overseas trip as Pakistan’s new leader and agreed to invest $10 billion in various projects in his country. Reports are now circulating that his upcoming reciprocal visit to Pakistan will see the future Saudi King increase his investments up to a total of $15 billion, which is proof that Pakistani diplomats have been working very hard behind the scenes over the past couple of months to secure such lofty support and might have coordinated it with the UAE.
After all, with MBZ being MBS mentor, it’s unrealistic to think that the two didn’t discuss their respective Kingdoms’ relations with their shared long-standing Pakistani partner sometime throughout the course of their “father-son” relationship, especially after PM Khan’s visit to Saudi Arabia and prior to MBZ’s own to Pakistan. PM Khan’s visionary leadership in trying to pioneer a “balanced” foreign policy all throughout the Mideast and the greater realm of Afro-Eurasia is evidently paying off after he won MBS’ trust and probably got the Crown Prince to put in a good word to his mentor about his guest.
The reason why it’s so important to emphasize all of this is because the UAE could have been Pakistan’s latent rival if previous analyses were correct about the fears that some in the Emirates had about CPEC’s terminal port of Gwadar one day replacing Dubai and Abu Dhabi. That strategic forecast might have been made by those entrusted with securing the country’s future interests and gaming out possible scenarios but it could also have been taken advantage of by third parties such as India to drive a deeper wedge between the UAE and Pakistan after 2015.
“Balancing” Away The Hybrid War On CPEC
Relations did indeed noticeably cool over the past four years, but PM Khan’s ability to credibly position Pakistan as a neutral “balancing” force in Mideast affairs through his country’s intensified partnerships with Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Iran proved to the UAE that CPEC isn’t aimed against any single country and is instead an all-inclusive integrational project for connecting China to the rest of Afro-Eurasia via this strategic trans-Pakistani overland route. This realization – backed up by actions such as the reinvigorated Pakistani-Saudi Strategic Partnership– must have assuaged any lingering concerns that the Emiratis may have had about Pakistani intentions.
It’s so important that Pakistani-Emirati relations are back on track because the UAE could have been a formidable opponent of both the South Asian state and its Chinese partner. The UAE has rapidly expanded its influence all across the world via its network of shipping ports and airports, as well as the military bases that it obtained in the Red Sea-Gulf of Aden region throughout the course of the war in Yemen. Instead of potentially leveraging these to challenge and ultimately “contain” China via the Hybrid War on CPEC, the Emirates will now cooperate with it on equal terms inside of Pakistan itself.
Concluding Thoughts
What PM Khan pulled off with Pakistan’s successful rapprochement with the UAE is nothing short of masterful because he turned a latent rival into a trusted partner after first proving his country’s peaceful win-win intentions to MBZ’s mentee, MBS. That event, more so than anything else, showed the Emirates that Pakistan shouldn’t be regarded as a future competitor like some in India had been hyping it up to be for their own reasons but rather as a brotherly nation that’s consistently maintained excellent relations with the influential House of Saud.
Once any doubt about that was finally dispelled, it was only natural for MBZ to visit Pakistan and reaffirm the strategic partnership between the two states. That monumental occasion marked the success of “Naya Pakistan’s” “balancing” act between regional powers and confirmed that it’s capable of reaping very real geopolitical results. Going forward, Pakistan must expand this “balancing” strategy from the Mideast to the rest of Afro-Eurasia and keenly take advantage of the various CPEC branch corridors (CPEC+, including both mainland and maritime ones) in order to finally become a pivotal player in Eastern Hemispheric affairs.
DISCLAIMER: The author writes for this publication in a private capacity which is unrepresentative of anyone or any organization except for his own personal views. Nothing written by the author should ever be conflated with the editorial views or official positions of any other media outlet or institution.
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