The US & others working with Pakistan

**davidbfpo** · 08-01-2012

I have opened this new thread on Pakistan's strategic position after the arrival today of two expert commentaries on the developing relationship between India and Saudi Arabia. With a passing reference to China, whose relationship with Pakistan has a few troubles.

There is an existing, long running thread 'The US & others working with Pakistan' and quite simply 'working with' is not what is happening. Plus some of the events involved have appeared in the thread 'Mumbai Attacks and their impact'.

Stephen Tankel has a FP Blog article 'Pakistan's sticky wicket: The India-Saudi link':http://afpak.foreignpolicy.com/posts...dia_saudi_link

Which ends with:

Finally, this event should cause concern in Islamabad and Rawalpindi about the degree to which continued tolerance of groups like Lashkar is creating unease among even its closest allies. China too has evinced concern - rarely and diplomatically, but nevertheless publicly - about the potential for Pakistan-based militants to threaten its own internal security. Saudi Arabia has now gone a significant step further. Neither country is about to abandon Pakistan, but nor is their commitment to Pakistan as absolute as some of its leaders might publicly claim or privately wish to believe.

The Jamestown Foundation has a short article 'A Challenge for Pakistan: Saudi Arabia’s New Counterterrorism Cooperation with India':http://www.jamestown.org/single/?no_...41c7acbda9b477

This looks more closely at the Indian aspects.

Still missing on my "radar" is a good article on what exactly is the Pakistan-Saudi relationship, we know many of the linkages, but not how they weigh in the relationship. Any suggestions would be welcome.

I don't think Pakistan can lose friends such as Saudi Arabia or the Chinese and expect this is fully appreciated, especially as relations with the generous USA are prone to tension and in the near future could end.

**omarali50** · 08-01-2012

Since pakistan is probably willing to go to almost any extent (short of killing "good jihadis"...THAT we cannot do..cannot more than will-not) we should be able to hold on to these two allies. For example, we have not yet given China all of the Northern areas and probably havent physically sold a working bomb to Saudia. But if push comes to shove, we could do either. In short, we still have some things to sell before we hit rock bottom.
As the guy who jumped out of a plane without a parachute famously said at the halfway mark: "still doing OK"..

**Ray** · 08-06-2012

Here is a link to the improving India Saudi relationship.

This would be an input that is of importance to Pakistan and so maybe relevant in context with this thread.

India and Saudi Arabia
http://intellibriefs.blogspot.in/201...di-arabia.html

It maybe recalled the the Saudis handed over Abu Jundal, a mastermind of the Mumbai Blast, who was in Saudi Arabia on a Pakistan passport. It is said that the ISI wanted the deportation stopped, but the Saudis went ahead and deported Abu Jundal.

Better ties with Saudi Arabia helped clinch Abu Jundal deal

For the last six months, Pakistan had been on a

related stories
Jundal locates 26/11 control room in Karachi
diplomatic overdrive with Saudi Arabia trying to get Jundal back to their soil,...

Jundal had a Pakistani passport. "They used all sorts of tactics, put constant pressure on Saudi Arabia to get him back,".....

http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-...e1-879865.aspx