Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif on April 30, 2024 in London, England. (Oli Scarff - WPA Pool /Getty Images)
Pakistan issued a strong denial on Tuesday that kidnapped Iranian border guards had ever been on its soil, the latest effort to ostensibly patch up strained ties between the two countries as Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif prepares to travel to Iran later this week.
The February incident, in which five Iranian border guards from Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan province were kidnapped by Sunni extremists, played a significant part in souring relations between the two neighbors and, though four of the soldiers were eventually freed, the unknown fate of the fifth remains a continued point of tension. Pakistani Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan made a point of distancing Pakistan from speculation around the location of the missing soldier, categorically stating that “those five Iranian guards were never ever present in Pakistan . . . So the question of fifth one being in Pakistan is out of question.”
Source: Fars News
In agreeing to set up a hotline between Pakistan’s paramilitary Frontier Corps and Iran’s Border Security Force, Islamabad is at least giving the appearance that it is attempting to mend fences with its neighbor. Sharif’s visit will also attempt to drive that point home. Since coming to power, the prime minister has gotten off on the wrong foot with Tehran, having nixed a planned $7.5-billion natural gas pipeline between the two nations in one of his first acts after coming to office. While Sharif has backtracked on that move since, Tehran has remained suspicious of his government, which has been far from cooperative on the tense border issue.
While Islamabad is signaling its desire to smooth things over with Tehran, this rapprochement looks to be superficial. After all, Sharif has made no secret of his government’s pivot towards Saudi Arabia, which recently granted Pakistan a $1.5 billion loan that helped contribute to a sharp recovery of the Pakistani rupee in March. The effective Saudi bailout has raised questions about what strings are attached with speculation mounting that Riyadh is seeking Pakistani help in training and recruiting volunteers to bolster rebel forces in Syria.
Islamabad has denied these questions but, regardless of the veracity of these particular charges, it’s still apparent that Sharif’s government is firmly committed to its strategic alliance with Saudi Arabia. Besides Riyadh’s considerable bailout, there is also the matter of remittances that come in from the 2 million Pakistani workers in the kingdom, amounting to around $4 billion a year. As Riyadh quietly continues to assert its regional position as a counter to Iranian influence, Pakistan will also continue to function in a crucial role in this ongoing tug-of-war between the Saudis and Iranians. Islamabad certainly has experience playing both sides of the fence but it appears, with today’s implausible denials around the border issue, that the Sharif government will do the bare minimum to preserve its traditionally friendly ties with Tehran.
