KARACHI: Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are in a position to help the residents of Indian-administered Kashmir who have been living under siege since the region’s special autonomy was revoked on August 5, analysts said on Thursday, with the caveat that Islamabad should not develop unrealistic expectations from Middle Eastern countries over the issue since any nation would watch its own interests first.
Talking to Arab News, Pakistan’s former ambassador to Riyadh, Shahid M. Amin, said the visit of Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel Al-Jubeir and UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan could help defuse tensions in South Asia.
However, he also maintained that the situation in Kashmir demanded the two Muslim countries to play a bigger role.
“This is not only a Muslim issue but a human issue as well,” he said. “So far we have only been hearing Pakistan’s version of what transpired during the meetings. The visiting ministers should have issued a statement, creating clarity about the purpose of their visit and denouncing India’s actions in Kashmir which are unethical and illegal according to international norms.”
On Wednesday, Pakistan saidPrime Minister Imran Khan had urged Saudi Arabia and the UAE to play a role and advise New Delhi to halt and reverse its “illegal actions” in Indian-administered Kashmir. The PM’s official statement also claimed that the visiting ministers had promised to help defuse hostilities between Pakistan and India over the disputed Kashmir region.
Tensions flared up between the two South Asian nuclear-armed neighbors when the government in New Delhi revoked the constitutional autonomy of Kashmir, which both countries rule in part but claim in full. This prompted fury from Pakistan which decided to sever trade and transportation ties with India and expelled its high commissioner to Islamabad.
Amin said the recent visit of the ministers was the outcome of Pakistan’s diplomatic outreach within the Islamic world in a context wherein most Pakistanis were calling for the global community of believers (ummah) to play its role.
Zebunnisa Burki, an analyst, said, however, that she was skeptical that the visit would help Pakistan build substantial pressure on India.
“I think more than anything else this visit was primed for the Pakistan government’s domestic constituency. They came, in all probability, to paper over what has been seen by people in Pakistan as a sort of a betrayal by the Ummah over the question of Kashmir. To me, that’s as far as it goes. It gave some element of face-saving to the Pak government,” she told Arab News.
Burki added that India was not in a mood to listen to anyone at the moment, mainly because “it knows it can – and has managed to – get away with brutalities in Kashmir.”
Mazhar Abbas, a Karachi-based analyst, said economic interests drove a country’s policies and the economic interest of Gulf states required them to work closely with India.
“We should not have unrealistic expectation that they will address the core issue. However, Saudi Arabia and the UAE can force India to undertake some confidence building measures by ending the curfew and rights violations in Kashmir,” he said, adding such action could also help resume the stalled dialogue process in the region.
Pakistan’s former ambassador to the UAE, Jamil Ahmed Khan, concurred with his assessment.
“We should not expect the UAE to openly condemn Indian actions, though diplomatically it may play a role to some extent,” he told Arab News, reminding that both Saudi Arabia and the UAE had come to Pakistan’s rescue when Islamabad recently faced a major financial crisis.
Khan suggested that Pakistan should only expect from friends what they could realistically deliver and look toward other members of the international community to highlight “Indian atrocities” in Kashmir.
“Prime Minister Khan has a great opportunity to do that since he will be addressing the United Nations in the coming days,” he added. “He should highlight how India revoked Kashmir’s special constitutional status in violation of the UN resolutions.”
Saudi, UAE can play key role in Kashmir issue - experts
Saudi, UAE can play key role in Kashmir issue - experts
- Top ministers from the Saudi Arabia and UAE visited Islamabad on Wednesday after PM Khan contacted Saudi and Emirati crown princes
- Analysts say the two Middle Eastern states should force India to end curfew and stop rights violations in Kashmir
Pakistan, other Muslim states raise alarm over Gaza situation after heavy flooding
- Cold winter rains have repeatedly lashed the sprawling tent cities, turning Gaza’s dirt roads into mud and causing damaged buildings to collapse
- The situation has been compounded by lack of sufficient humanitarian access, acute shortages of essential life-saving supplies and materials
ISLAMABAD: Foreign ministers of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and other Muslim nations on Friday voiced concern over the situation in Gaza, following severe flooding triggered by heavy rains in the territory.
As 2026 begins, the shaky 12-week-old ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has largely ended large-scale Israeli bombardment of Gaza. But Palestinians are still being killed almost daily by Israeli fire, and the humanitarian crisis shows no signs of abating.
Cold winter rains have repeatedly lashed the sprawling tent cities over past weeks, turning Gaza’s dirt roads into mud and causing buildings damaged in Israeli bombardment to collapse. UNICEF says at least six children have now died of weather-related causes.
In a joint message, foreign ministers of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Qatar, Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates, expressed their “deepest concern” over the situation, compounded by lack of sufficient humanitarian access, acute shortages of essential life-saving supplies, and the slow pace of the entry of essential materials required for the rehabilitation of basic services.
“The ministers highlighted that the severe weather has laid bare the fragility of existing humanitarian conditions, particularly for almost 1.9 million people and displaced families living in inadequate shelters,” the Pakistani foreign ministry said in a joint statement.
“Flooded camps, damaged tents, the collapse of damaged buildings, and exposure to cold temperatures coupled with malnutrition, have significantly heightened risks to civilian lives, including due to disease outbreaks, especially among children, women, the elderly, and individuals with medical vulnerabilities.”
The statement came a day after UNICEF said a 7-year-old, Ata Mai, had drowned Saturday in severe flooding that engulfed his tent camp in Gaza City. Mai had been living with his younger siblings and family in a camp of around 40 tents.
They lost their mother earlier in the war, according to the UN agency.
Video from Civil Defense teams, shown on Al Jazeera, showed rescue workers trying to get Mai’s body out of what appeared to be a pit filled with muddy water surrounded by wreckage of bombed buildings. The men waded into the water, pulling at the boy’s ankle, the only part of his body visible. Later, the body is shown wrapped in a muddy cloth being loaded into an ambulance.
Foreign minister of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and other states appreciated the efforts of all United Nations (UN) organizations and agencies as well as non-government organizations (NGOs) in continuing to assist Palestinian civilians and deliver humanitarian assistance under extremely difficult and complex circumstances.
“They demanded that Israel ensure the UN and international NGOs are able to operate in Gaza and the West Bank in a sustained, predictable, and unrestricted manner, given their integral role in the humanitarian response in the Strip. Any attempt to impede their ability to operate is unacceptable,” the statement read.
The foreign ministers reaffirmed support to President Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza, with a view to ensuring the sustainability of the ceasefire, bringing an end to the war in Gaza, to secure a dignified life for the Palestinian people who have endured prolonged humanitarian suffering, and leading to a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood.
“In this context, they stressed the urgent need to immediately initiate and scale up early recovery efforts, including the provision of durable and dignified shelter to protect the population from the severe winter conditions,” the statement read further.
“The ministers called on the international community to uphold its legal and moral responsibilities and to pressure Israel, as the occupying power, to immediately lift constraints on the entry and distribution of essential supplies including tents, shelter materials, medical assistance, clean water, fuel, and sanitation support.”
