The latest report in the British media covers the same ground in a new packaging and gives it new currency. Western officials are quoted as saying that Saudi Arabia could acquire nuclear warheads from Pakistan within weeks of Iran developing atomic weapons. Well, this development should not raise eyebrows. There is enough documentary evidence to show by now that Pakistan’s quest for an Islamic bomb was bankrolled by the Saudis amongst others. What will however signal if Riyadh indeed buys a nuclear warhead from Pakistan is a new trend of countries acquiring the N-weapon like any other military toy.
Saudi Arabia will get the credit of being the first to be off the block. Obviously, it doesn’t want to go through the manufacturing route and face IAEA hassles, and other usual non-proliferation checks. In these days when everything from a business processing to a medical transcription is being outsourced, there is nothing wrong to outsource the manufacturing of N-bomb to a friendly country. In fact, there is evidence to show that Saudi Arabia first tapped Saddam Hussein for a ready-to-use nuclear weapon way back in 1994. When the Iraqi leader showed interest in the offer, Baghdad was paid $5 billion as the first pay-out. Nothing has come of the exercise because of circumstances that made Saddam regime to fall.
Since Saddam is history, Riyadh finds a willing and enterprising vendor of N-arms in Pakistan. The situation is tailor –made for both – Islamabad is facing the possibility of financial bankruptcy despite being an ‘unacknowledged’ nuclear power. It needs billions in bail out, which, it can get from World Bank –IMF combine, but at huge political cost. For the Saudis they need to display their N-power soon after, if not before, Tehran test fires its weapon. Today, the only country that may be willing to trade in N-weapons is Pakistan. It has considerable expertise in clandestine N-programme and N-proliferation. Put differently, Islamabad brings to the table an expertise, which should be the envy of fellow passengers.
Islamabad will be only too glad to give a nuclear dimension to the Saudi ties. Already it has two army divisions on standby for deployment to Saudi Arabia if the kingdom is threatened by Iran or the pro-democracy uprisings sweeping the Arab world. It has inked similar pacts with some Gulf countries, which are the second home to Pakistani elite.
But the end result will be the requiem for the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which has failed right from the word go because of the ‘uni-dimensional’ approach of the NPT Ayatollahs in America. The problem with them is their concern with countries that are known to abide by and respect international treaties. Their non-proliferation worries were not channelised to target rogue States, one of which, Pakistan even ran a Nuclear Wal-Mart. The West had an opportunity to shut down the AQ Khan enterprise when the Pakistan metallurgist was going around the world with the full backing of his country’s establishment.
Iran going nuclear and Saudi’s arming themselves with an off-the shelf buy are events that will have a profound impact on the region and the world at large. It is too early to crystal gaze though. Reports say that Riyadh is taking the first steps to build a ballistic missile platform as an immediate deterrent. Way back in 2008, the Saudis assured the Americans of ‘not pursuing’ sensitive nuclear technologies in return for help in civilian nuclear assistance. This MOU will be the first casualty of the ‘new toy’.
There is reason to believe that it is Pakistan, more than Saudi Arabia that will stand to benefit diplomatically, and strategically. The first benefit that would come its way will be official recognition to the Pakistani nuclear arsenal provided the Saudi buy is not a clandestine affair. The second advantage that would bring smile to GHQ Shura is the new stature the sale will give to Pakistan in the Islamic world. Thus far, it has been denied what should have been its as the sixth-largest Muslim country in the world.
