Contrary to the expectations of many Pakistanis, Prime Minister
Imran Khan opted not to attend Kuala Lumpur Summit. The overwhelming perception
is that that Khan decided to stay away from the Summit under the pressure of Saudi
Arabia. It is no secret that the Kingdom has been extending help to the
incumbent government to avert the economic crisis, ever since Khan came into
power.
Reportedly, Khan had telephoned his Malaysian counterpart
Mahathir bin Mohammad to express his regrets for not being able to attend the
summit. He also conveyed the same to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
who was also one of the driving forces behind the event.
It is worth noting that Pakistan was one of the first
countries with whom Mahathir shared his plans for holding the summit, when he
met Khan along with Erdogan on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session
in New York in September. Khan formally conveyed his acceptance of the
invitation for attending the summit when deputy Foreign Minister of Malaysia
called on him in Islamabad on 29th November.
Prior to the commencement of Summit, a statement issued by
Malaysian Prime Minister’s Office saying, “Dr. Mahathir appreciates Prime
Minister Imran Khan’s call to inform of his inability to attend the summit
where the Pakistani leader was expected to speak and share his thoughts on the
state of affairs of the Islamic world.”
There is a dire need to read the explanation put forward by
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi. He confirmed that Saudi
Arabia and the United Arab Emirates had concerns about the Kuala Lumpur Summit.
They were worried that the event could cause fragmentation of Ummah and lead to
setting up of another organization parallel to the existing Saudi-dominated Organization
of Islamic Cooperation.
It is on record that prior to the commencement of Summit,
Mahathir told reporters in Kuala Lumpur that Saudi King; Salman bin Abdul Aziz
was averse to the Summit discussing issues facing the Muslims. Saudi King was
of the view that the OIC should continue as the platform for discussing such
matters.
In view of the reservations about the event, Qureshi said,
it was decided that Pakistan would first attempt to bridge the gap between Riyadh
and Kuala Lumpur and if that did not work there would be no participation in
the Summit.
Foreign minister explained that Pakistan did attempt to
patch up the differences and succeeded not only in getting invites for Saudis
and Emiratis, but also convinced Mahathir to personally visit Riyadh and directly
invite King Salman. Mahathir’s visit could not be scheduled because the dates
proposed by Riyadh were not convenient for him to undertake the trip.
He also informed that Khan visited Saudi Arabia in an attempt
to bringing Saudi Arabia and Malaysia closer, and not for getting a permission
to attend the summit. Qureshi was of the view that by staying back, Pakistan
had underscored its neutrality on the issue and conveyed that it was not
inclined towards one side or the other.
According to media reports from the Malaysian capital, Mahathir
and King Salman held a video conference to discuss Saudi reservations even
after Pakistan had officially pulled out, but no common grounds could be found.
It was anticipated that two of the world's most outspoken
leaders, Malaysia's Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and Turkey's President
Tayyip Erdogan would be giving their views during the four-day summit. Iranian
President Hassan Rouhani and Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamid Al-Thani, two
countries having tense relations with Saudi Arabia, were invited to attend the
Summit.
Saudi Arabia was of the opinion that Summit was the wrong
forum to discuss matters of importance to the world's 1.75 billion
Muslims. Saudi King Salman believed that
such issues should be discussed through the Organization of Islamic Cooperation
(OIC).
However, some analysts suspected the Kingdom feared being
diplomatically isolated by regional rivals Iran, Qatar and Turkey. A quote of
James Dorsey, a senior fellow at S Rajaratnam School of International Studies
and Middle East Institute in Singapore just can’t be overlooked.
He said, “The issue is that you've got blocs. “You've got a
Saudi-UAE bloc, Turkey-Qatari bloc, and Pakistan in the middle trying to hedge
their bets.”
Defending the summit, Mahathir's office issued a statement
saying there was no intention to create a “new bloc as alluded to by some of
its critics”.
“In addition, the Summit is not a platform to discuss
religion or religious affairs but specifically to address the state of affairs
of the Muslim Ummah,” it said.
However, one just can’t ignore what Mahatir had told Reuters.
He had expressed frustration with the OIC's inability to forge a united front
and act decisively.
