Stagnating Pakistan-Iran Relations

While talking to the Iranian media delegation, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said on November 6, that his country supports Iran to acquire nuclear technology and that Pakistan desires to develop its relations with Iran, still further. The Prime Minister elaborated that Pakistan was serious in the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project as it would strength trade between the two countries. Repeating the rhetoric in the same tone Foreign Minister Kasuri assured the Iranian delegation that Pakistan opposes the American use of force against the Iranian nuclear sites. On another occasion Mr. Aziz said that “we think Iran should not proliferate. We’re against production of any nuclear weapons in the region. We think Iran does have the right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes under IAEA safeguards and guidelines."

It goes without saying that neither the Prime Minister nor his Foreign Minister design Pakistan’s domestic or foreign policy. General Musharraf and his corps commanders are the real in charge of marking the national interests of the country. The main concern remains that in the already changed world, Pakistan has done very little to identify its goals and its priorities, and to devise a long term strategy. The fixation of the establishment with a single power has paralyzed the policy makers to consider the future developments that would emerge after the international war against terrorism concludes or subsides. There is no blueprint for days when Pakistan will struggle for partners and reliance, as prevalent high dependency policy, projected and perused zealously, would whither away, as it would not find any partners.

When it comes to Pakistan-Iran relations there is much more than what actually is being said by the establishment or its proxies. It is this aspect which worries a common Pakistani who would like to see Pakistan as a sovereign and viable state, free to choose its friends and allies in a long term perspective. There is a general consensus that in recent years Pakistan has lost a reliable partner and ally that exist so close in the psyche of every Pakistani. It is also being felt that a traditional high priority that every government attached with its relations with Iran is no more there. The closeness of the two countries is reflected well by President Ayub Khan, who said while addressing the Iranian Senate in 1959 that, “Our two nations are no strangers to each other, our friendship is nothing new. Our links are steeped in history. We share the same faith and are heirs to a common cultural heritage. Your language and literature has for centuries been a source of inspiration to our people. We have drunk deep at the fountain of the Iranian culture and it has left indelible marks on our every day life. . . . Historically we have been one nation in the past, geo¬graphically we have a common border and ethnologically we are of the same stock.”

The lowest ebb of relations between the two countries came when in mid-1990s the Pakistani establishment developed close ties with the Taliban and openly supported them in their battles against the Iran backed Northern Alliance. The darkest moment came when nine Iranian diplomats were killed by the Taliban in Mazar-e-Sharif in August 1998. Iranians accused Pakistan of not doing enough to stop the murder of their diplomats, although assurances ware given by the Pakistani government for the safety of the diplomats. It left yet another blotch on the weakling Pakistan-Iran relations.

Before the Taliban became Pakistan’s obsession and consequentially an icon of the flawed policy, Pakistan maintained more than cordial relations with Iran. People of Pakistan still recall the 14 September 1965 visit of the Iranian Prime Minister to Rawalpindi. He carried a message of support from the Iranian government, for Pakistan’s conflict with India.

Iran coordinated its policies with Pakistan, opposing the Soviet occupation in Afghanistan and Pakistan had a visible tilt towards Iran in its war against Iraq. Both the countries vow to continue to cooperate with each other on various matters of mutual interest, but there is hardly a substantial dividend on the ground. Both have signed scores of MoUs and agreements but very little have come out in a concrete manner. Even the well projected and well advertised gas pipeline is under jeopardy. The trade volume between the two neighboring countries remains disappointingly low and no serious parameters are set to correct this deficiency.

Despite of difference of policies between Pakistan and Iran on the Taliban issue, after 2002 both the countries struggled to maintain good workable relations. There are stronger extractions that do not allow these countries to harmonize with each other. There is hardly a high level contact between the two countries or a strong desire to improvise methods for closer ties. General Musharraf has not visited Iran since 1999 and so has any Iranian high official after President Mohammad Khatami’s visit in December 2002. A number of analysts are of the view that there is a powerful lobby in Islamabad which has succeeded in keeping Pakistan away from Iran and they believe that it is the same lobby which is creating hindrances in the gas pipeline and other cooperative measures between the two neighbours.
It is a wrong assumption to believe that Iran’s closer ties with India is a factor in distancing of relations between Iran and Pakistan. First, Pakistan itself for obvious reasons is going out of its way to normalize relations with India, even making adjustments in its principled position. Secondly, Indian stance in International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) against Iran’s nuclear programme has further proved that this premise is not correct.

The confined people of Pakistan are mere spectators in this big puzzle. The clueless masses just ponder that who allowed these precious links to wither away and what kind of self-interests are responsible for inflicting this damage to the Pakistani vital objectives and above all who has taken away all the warmth for the Iranian people.