Abstract
Pakistan shares complicated but necessary ties with Iran and Saudi Arabia – two countries involved in a multilayered conflict in the Middle East. The bilateral relations with Pakistan are historical, and there are deep religious, cultural, and social affinities. And there are issues of security and economic interdependence as well. However, given the conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran, Pakistan has to follow a policy of neutrality toward both. This means that it has to carefully balance its relationships and find opportunities to grow ties with one without antagonizing the other. In this chapter, these dynamics are explored, as recent concerns in Pakistan’s ties with Iran and Saudi Arabia are highlighted to show the complicated situation for Pakistan in this regard.
The authors would like to thank Ahmed Jawad for his extensive help and support in researching and writing for this chapter.
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Khan, A., Sajjad, M.W. (2023). Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Pakistan’s Foreign Policy, Saudi Arabia, and Iran. In: Eslami, M., Guedes Vieira, A.V. (eds) The Arms Race in the Middle East. Contributions to International Relations. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-32432-1_18
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