Opinion War of words

The Saudi-Iran rivalry has been constructed in many different forms — Saudi monarchy versus the Islamic Republic of Iran,conservatism versus radicalism,Arab versus Persian and Sunni versus Shia. As the political situation in Bahrain acquired a sectarian dimension,it was inevitable that Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shia Iran would be ranged on opposite sides.

Addressing a press conference in Tehran on Monday,Ahmadinejad said,“The Saudis did an ugly thing to deploy troops … the Bahraini government also did an ugly work to kill its own people”.

A day before it was the turn of Saudi Arabia and its friends in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to warn Iran to keep its hands off Bahrain. In an emergency meeting on Sunday in Riyadh,GCC leaders expressed their deep concern “over the continuing Iranian intervention in the internal matters of GCC countries by conspiring against their national security.”

The six-nation GCC was set up in the wake of the Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979. The collective defence mechanism includes the sheikhdoms of Saudi Arabia,Oman,Kuwait,United Arab Emirates,Bahrain and Qatar.

Iran does not accept the description of the Bahrain situation as a sectarian conflict; it insists that the movement in Bahrain is for political rights.

Meanwhile,mainstream opposition groups in Bahrain have sought to distance themselves from Iran. They fear that the Iran bogey provides an excuse for Saudi intervention and American backing for status quo in Bahrain.

Washington has struggled to balance its interest in the stability of Bahrain — which hosts the headquarters of the US navy’s Fifth Fleet — and its rhetoric on promoting democracy in the Middle East. The US has pressed its allies in Bahrain to meet some of the protest movement’s demands for reforms,but has no interest in rocking the boat too hard.

India’s silence

Washington is not the only one struggling to sustain a consistent line in the Middle East. India is under as much pressure to balance competing interests in the region.

Recall the demand from the BJP,CPM and Samajwadi party last month for a parliamentary resolution condemning Western intervention in Libya. There is no word from these parties against the Saudi intervention in Bahrain.

The UPA government too has chosen silence. Hoping to keep it that way,if not win Delhi’s support,were two important visitors to the capital last week — the foreign minister of Bahrain and the national security adviser of Saudi Arabia.

The minister from Bahrain did not mince words in his public criticism of Iran. The Saudi envoy must have been stronger in his expression,behind closed doors,of Riyadh’s concerns on Tehran’s growing regional clout.

In the Foreign Office’s statements on the consultations with these leaders,there was no word about external intervention,but only broad references to the peaceful resolution of differences on all issues in the region.

Cameron amends

After sharply criticising Pakistan for supporting terrorism during his visit to India last July,British PM David Cameron is making amends this week by travelling to Pakistan.

Cameron delighted his Indian hosts by saying: “we cannot tolerate in any sense the idea that this country (Pakistan) is allowed to look both ways and is able,in any way,to promote the export of terror,whether to India or whether to Afghanistan or anywhere else in the world.”

To his credit,Cameron did not back off from these remarks despite the fact that British diplomats were appalled at the new PM’s decision to junk the carefully crafted balance in London’s approach to Delhi and Islamabad.

Nevertheless,Cameron has good reasons to apply the corrective,given the large British interests in Pakistan. His current trip is being billed as a “fresh start” in the ties between the two countries. In his major public speech during the visit,Cameron is expected to describe the British bonds with Pakistan as “unbreakable”.

“Whether it’s relations with India,our security or questions of governance,if we work closely with one another,if we’re clear that we need each other to succeed,we can grasp these difficult issues and move beyond them to a better future,” Cameron will declare according to his speech previewed in the British media.

The writer is a senior fellow at the Centre for Policy Research,New Delhi