Guy's I am not suggesting turning on UAE or Saudia Arabia. Both are important countries and we should do everything possible to have the
best relations that we can possibly have. We should
not under any circumstances get involved in any wars, directly or indirectly. We should learn from our "Afghan" experiance.
However what we need to do is
sober up and not get carried away. What I think happens is lot of the relations with ME are personal. That is a sheikh will get close to say our elite ( Nawaz etc ) and these guy's than will decide policy on that basis. You can never expect ( we should not either ) to compromise itself for us, however you can expect certain amount of preferance.
Let me give you example. If my friend opens a shop down the road I certainly will try to shop there but if the milk is no good I will go somewhere else. However I will give me first choice and if he is lacking for some reason I will go somewhere else.
In UAE's case or Saudia Arabia's case if they both treat Pakistan as "
preferred" country - that is they are
inclined to us then we would be required to apply
reciprocity. Under these circumstances I would support and expect to send Pakistan Army to stand by Suadia. If required to fight so be it. We would not be doing Saudia a favour rather it would be
duty borne out of reciprocity.
So keeping this in mind let us look at UAE and SA. Are they extending preferance to Pakistan? My view is
NO. Indeed between India and Pakistan I strongly believe SA and UAE are inclined to India and even if they are not inclined to India they certainly treat us
equal.
Let us be clear about this. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this. That is their
right. However we have to act accordingly. In this day and age nobody should expect beggarly handouts. However let us look at UAE or SA. They are both offer one of largest
job markets in the world. Pakistan is right next door and idealy placed to meet that need.
Question here is do SA or UAE give preferance to Pakistan? We all know there are far more Indian's in UAE and SA then Pakistani's? That should alone sober up Pakistan. Where went the so called "brotherhood"? Bear in mind by choosing a Pak taxi driver over Indian they are not losing money. The are going to give their custom anyway. The question is
who? Everybody knows the answer.
My contention is SA and UAE have given India preferance for some time. Let us look and try to enumerate the scale of this preferance is amazing. Gulf countries are the
largest source of dollars to India.
Gulf Countries > India $30 billion
Gulf Countries > Pak $6 billion
So this means India get's five times more money from Gulf than Pakistan does. Please don't tell me my poor brothers are not good enough to work in the Gulf and if they are not good enough for the work *bleep* my brothers are not good enough to spill their blood for you fighting the Houti's for you.
Even if SA and UAE shared the jobs 50/50 we would earn another $18 billion dollars. Do you guy's know how much extra $18 billion invested would do to Pakistan? Besides millions of our brothers earning some oney think of all the familes in Pakistan would benefit. Think of the extra boost to our economy. Think of the extra tax raised as when they money is spent in Pakistan it would boost sales attracting tax. That increased taxation might go to buy the next frigate Pakistan Navy wants or pay for the next gun upgrade.
Or wait a minute. Why not give more jobs to Pakistani's so the result is we get $30 billion and India gets $6 billion. Do you know what that would do? It would hit Modi in the pocket bad style. Indian budget would come under pressure as Indian economy would slow down.
Conversely Pakistan getting extra $30 billion would lead to significant tax increase leading to more money available for defence. The economy would suddenly start growing by may 5-6% a year through massively increased injection of $30 billion every year.
The reality is it is never going to happen. Gulf countries are inclined to India notwithstanding empty words about "ummah" etc. It is for this reason we should sober up. Yes, indeed we did right in not sending our soldiers to help them. What for? peanuts?
If anything with $30 billion going to India - that figure being India's No.1 location for remittances I am surprised they are not sending in Indian Army to defend a strategic Indian asset.
India's Stakes In The Middle East
Pakistan’s remittances - Newspaper - DAWN.COM
But how many people would guess that even though the United States is the number one source country for outflows worldwide, it isn’t the largest source of remittances going to India. That would be the United Arab Emirates (UAE). More than $15 billion was remitted to India from the UAE during 2012, compared with $11 billion from the United States.
Clicking through the source countries for inflows to India reveals the importance of the Middle East to India. It turns out that remittances from the Gulf countries account for more than $30 billion, nearly half the 2012 total of $69 billion flowing to India. In addition to the UAE, source countries include Saudi Arabia ($8 billion), Kuwait (almost $3 billion), Oman ($2.6 billion), Qatar ($2.2 billion), and Bahrain ($760 million)