President Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, in his visit of Saudi Arabia and performance of Umrah, on the second day of his trip (26th October) met with the prince and the defense minister of that country Prince Suleiman Ibne Abdul Aziz al Saud in Riyadh.
In the meeting both the parties spoke about: agreement for strategic cooperation between the two countries, the ongoing conflicts in the Islamic states, the rule of Saudi in the peace and stability of Afghanistan, economic issues, and the challenges that Afghan tradesmen and Hajjis face in Saudi Arabia. In addition, they agreed that both the parties will appoint delegations for the details of the mentioned issues.
On one hand, it was President Ahmadzai’s first trip; on the other hand, his meeting with the defense minister of Saudi expresses the value of his trip.
Review of Afghan-Saudi Relations
Since long time ago, there were cultural and political relations among Afghan and Saudi nations; but Saudi entered the politics of Afghanistan after the entrance of Russian forces to Afghanistan, and while Sardar Mohammad Dawood Khan changed its foreign policy that was turning around Russia and went toward the West and Islamic World, since that time the relationship of Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia expanded.
The relationship became valuable for Saudi while Russia invaded Afghanistan and the security of Saudi and Gulf was at risk. Therefore Saudi supported the Afghan Mujahidin and it was the first country for extreme support of the Mujahidin.
After the Jihad era of Afghanistan, Saudi was supporting Afghan Mujahidin, most of Salafists, and the Taliban for its strategic depth against Iran, which their and other neighboring countries such activities not only blamed the state for the proxy war in the country, but still its influence is visible in every aspect.
Selection of Saudi for the first foreign Trip
President clarified the main points of his policy, and he mentioned five groups in his foreign policy orderly: the neighboring countries, Muslim countries, the Western countries like the U.S., the NATO member countries and Japan, Asian countries, and international organizations like United Nations and the World Bank. Mentioning the neighboring countries at the first priorities of foreign policy expresses the value of those countries.
Now the question raises that why the president started his state visits from the second group of countries? Was the president’s first trip to Saudi for the fulfilment of his promise during the electoral campaign, in which he told that his first trip will be to Saudi, or he had other goals? Though the president’s promise of travel to Saudi was for changing the ideas of the public about him, as he spent most of his life in the West and the public had a negative idea about him; in addition to that, it expresses the value of Saudi in his foreign policy.
The rule of Saudi in the Peace Process
There are two dimensions of value in the president’s trip to Saudi; first, the trip of the high-ranking Afghan Officials, led by President Ahmadzai, will strengthen the relationship of both the countries, secondly, it might be the beginning of influencing the rule of Saudi in the Afghan Peace Process. On one hand, Saudi is the cradle of Islamic values; on the other hand, it has close strategic relationships, and strong influence over Pakistan. Therefore, there are rumors that the trip was the attempt for opening inter-Afghani peace process.
According to Afghan Officials, President Ashraf Ghani prepared a great plan for attracting Saudi’s cooperation for the Afghan Peace Process, and took it with himself to Saudi. Most of analysts believe that in addition to its influence over Pakistan, Saudi has direct influence over the Taliban and can have direct agreement with this group; therefore, it can play a major role in the peace process. Because Saudi is one of those countries that recognized the government of the Taliban during their regime, and it had friendly relationship with them.
At all, it seems that at the first stage the trip will be the first step of strengthening the relationship with Saudi and its continuity, and it will be about the negotiation about the rule of Saudi in the Afghan Peace Process. About the rule of Saudi in Afghan Peace Process, in response to the president’s question, the defense minister of Saudi said that his country will do its best for the peace process in Afghanistan.
The Value of Relations with Saudi, China, and Turkey
It seems that President Ghani wants to strengthen and expand its relations with China, Saudi, and Turkey; and on the other hand, he wants to strengthen and expand its relations with the Western world led by the U.S. Those are the countries that they not only play a major role in the peace process of the country, but also can play a major role in the economic development of the country.
As Saudi, Turkey, and China are the three strategic friends of Pakistan, so President Ahmadzai want to put pressure over Pakistan, by those three countries, to be truthful in the Afghan Peace Process and direct negotiation with the Taliban.
Due to looking to the current geopolitical environment of those countries and the world, China and Saudi will also feel good to put pressure over Pakistan for the Afghan Peace Process, because both of those countries are currently afraid of fundamentalist groups, the best example of it can be the declaration of Al Qaida’s war against China in these days, and Saudi also joined the U.S. in the battle against ISIS in the Middle East and it also want to improve its religious and political role in the regional strategic countries.
The End