Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Pakistan’s last key bastions of support in the Muslim Ummah (Brotherhood) may have fallen.
For, Turkiye President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the only Muslim leader supporting Pakistan on the Kashmir issue, said on Monday that his country will be ‘proud’ if a country like India becomes a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
Meanwhile, Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammad bin Salman (MbS), who also attended the two-day G-20 Summit in New Delhi, began his State Visit on Monday during which Riyadh might sign big business deals with India. So, this is seen as an unprecedented four-day visit to India by the most powerful Saudi leader, including a day’s State Visit.
President Erdogan also said all non-P5 members should have the opportunity to become members of the UNSC by rotation.
His comments came while responding to a question at a media briefing after he participated in the G-20 Summit in New Delhi on Sunday.
Asked about the P5—the US, UK, Russia, China, and France—he said the “world is bigger and larger than these five.”
“We would be proud if a country like India became a permanent member of the UN Security Council.”
He also said India is Turkiye’s largest trade partner in South Asia.
“What we mean is that it’s not only about the US, the UK, France, China, and Russia. We don’t want to have just these five countries in the Security Council,” he said.
Pakistani media and leaders were surprised at President Erdogan’s comments and its social media was flooded with all kinds of comments, including that this was a ‘wake-up call’ for Islamabad to mend fences with New Delhi and normalize bilateral relations.
More shocking for Pakistan was the announcement of the ambitious India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEEEC). Angry Pakistanis called it the very “last wake-up call” for their country.
The new economic corridor, an alternative to China’s floundering Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), was jointly announced on Saturday by the leaders of the US, India, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, France, Germany, Italy and the European Union on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in New Delhi.
In particular, Italy’s voice was important as its Prime Minister Georgia Meloni ‘privately signaled’ to her Chinese counterpart that Rome would exit the BRI by December 2023.
The unexpected development in New Delhi where world leaders had gathered for the G-20 Summit, came in as a big shock for Islamabad as well, especially at a time it was expecting investments of up to USD 25 billion from Saudi Arabia, or at least a brief visit by MbS.
Pakistan’s caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, however, put up a brave face. He exuded confidence on Monday, saying that Saudi Arabia’s investment would come in the mining, agriculture, and information technology sectors, and was part of a push to increase foreign direct investment in the debt-ridden country.
Almost bankrupt and facing up to 40 percent inflation in essential commodities’ prices, Islamabad is embarking on a perilous path to economic recovery under a caretaker government after a recent USD 3 billion loan program averted a sovereign debt default.