India-Pakistan war: There are over 50 Muslim countries, but only Turkey and Azerbaijan support Pakistan; here’s why
India-Pakistan war: As the tensions between India and Pakistan threaten to boil over into a full-blown India-Pakistan war after Operation Sindoor, the enemy country finds itself increasingly isolated, with even fellow Muslim nations refusing to openly support Islamabad in its escalation against India.
Why Muslim countries shunned Pakistan?
Following Operation Sindoor, Pakistan has accused India of violating Article 51 of the United Nations Charter. Islamabad had hoped that it would receive support from Muslim countries, but out of the 50+ Islamic nations globally, only Turkey and Azerbaijan have openly stood with Pakistan, while the rest have adopted a moderate stance in the ongoing conflict.
This has come as a shock to the Pakistan, especially its all-powerful military establishment, because Islamabad has long projected itself as the self-proclaimed ‘flag-bearer’ of Islam in South Asia, even though India has a larger Muslim population, in fact, the second-largest in the world.
According to experts, most Muslim countries, barring a few who have vested interests, now see through Pakistan’s duplicity of using religion as facade to operate a terrorist network, and using terrorism as undeclared state policy against India and other neighbouring countries. Additionally, these Muslim nations are not viewing the India-Pakistan conflict through the prism of religion, rather their stance is driven by a diplomatic and economic point of view.
While countries like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have funded heavily funded Pakistan in the recent past, but the situation is changing rapidly as both these Gulf giants no longer want to share the platform with Islamabad. Notably, both Saudi Arabia and UAE have moved closer to India, and started distancing themselves from Pakistan in recent times.
The Islamic world has also realised that Pakistan is not willing to resolve the Kashmir issue through bilateral talk, but instead uses terrorism as a means to carry out heinous attacks like Pahalgam, with the Pakistan Army and the country’s civilian government using Kashmir to stay relevant and win popularity at home.
Pakistan’s support for proscribed terror groups like the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Jaish-e-Mohammed has tainted its image beyond repair, and as such, no sane country is willing to stand with them, barring those who have some sort of vested interest, such as China and Turkey.
Why Turkey, Azerbaijan support Pakistan?
In case of Turkey, its President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has long been obsessed with reviving Turkey’s ancient glory by building a modern version of the Ottoman Empire, and ruling the Islamic world. Erdogan’s narrative has found support among Pakistan top military and civilian leadership, hence Ankara is openly standing with Islamabad in the conflict with New Delhi, and often brings up the Kashmir issue, which it has no stake or business in.
Azerbaijan’s case is a bit different. While not a direct supporter of Pakistan, Azerbaijan shares close diplomatic, economic, defense and cultural ties with Turkey, to the extent that some experts have even called it a satellite state of Ankara. Azerbaijan’s relations with Pakistan essentially started developing during the former’s 2020 war against Armenia, during which Islamabad openly supported Baku, and even offered military support.
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