The announcement of the formation of an Islamic military alliance by the Saudi Crown Prince, Muhammad Bin Salman, took the whole world and even the countries included in the list by surprise. Most of the Islamic countries appeared reluctant to join the alliance because of its sectarian nature and ambiguous agenda. The sectarian dimension is evident from the exclusion of Shia-dominated Iran, Iraq, and Syria from the proposed alliance which gives this alliance a Sunni outlook. Pakistan too showed its reluctance and even the Foreign Secretary of Pakistan, Aizaz Ahmad Chaudry, expressed that Pakistan was not aware of the modalities. However, with time most of the Islamic countries showed the willingness to join the alliance and Pakistan too pledged to become an active participant to deal with the menace of terrorism under the banner of Islamic military alliance.

The big question that needs to be asked is that whether this alliance can prove successful in delivering on the promises? For me, that appears to be a distant dream. The reasons are numerous and widespread but I will discuss some of them here. According to the news reports, General Raheel Sharif will head this alliance but whether power will lie with him or not? If real powers don’t lie with the head of the alliance then undoubtedly he will not head this coalition and there is none in the Islamic who can carry the flag of the alliance.

The second important question is how to deal with force formation and material assistance under the alliance. How much force will be required and how much each country will contribute towards the alliance plus how much funds will each country provide for organisational and operational activities. The sectarian dimension of the alliance further sows the seeds of confusion in the minds of common Muslims, who see this alliance from the sectarian point of view due to exclusion of key Shia states. How will the alliance cope up with this?

Another major counter-argument is the situation of most Islamic countries, which are not even ready to defend their own capitals in the likes of Afghanistan, Yemen, and Somalia etc. Lastly, how the forces of this alliance will deal with the situation of Syria, Iraq, and Yemen, where several countries are fighting each other through covert and overt means. The contact of these forces with the Iran forces in Iraq and Syria and with Russian forces in Syria can produce drastic results for the regional and international stability.

These are serious questions that need thinking over and over again. The amalgamation of such a force can prove to be counter-productive for the unity of Muslim Ummah as a whole and for Pakistan in particular. Pakistan cannot afford to be involved in a sectarian in the region because of our own demographic arrangement and longstanding sectarian problems. The participation of Pakistan in a sectarian alliance will disrupt our relations with our friend and neighbor, Iran, and will give India a chance to further isolate us in the region. This will have severe repercussions for Pakistan in economic and military terms. What we need is to tell Saudis to include Iran and other Shia states in this organization and narrow down its aim to the defeat of Islamic extremism and terrorism instead of regional rivalry.