The act by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and the U.A.E. to sever economic and diplomatic ties with Qatar for a number of reasons needs to looked at objectively (Editorial – “Mending the rift”, June 27). One is sure that Saudi Arabia and its friends cannot stay away from Qatar for long. The honey of Qatar’s prospering economy is too lucrative to be ignored. Also, Saudi Arabia gets much of its clout from the tiny country on account of it being a large military base. The anti-Qatar alliance also has its own backyard to clean first before implicating Qatar. Breaking up with Qatar questions their own credibility.
But why was such a drastic measure undertaken in the first place? Was it a move by the Saudis to manufacture a problem in the wake of declining oil prices or was it a backdoor move by the U.S. to step up defence sales? By pitting each of these nations against the other, which in turn could affect Central Asia including Iran, the biggest gainer could be the U.S. which could only be waiting to unroll its ‘Right to Protect’ model on the lines of the Iraq fiasco.
Shreyansh Jain,
Chandigarh
The charter of demands by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and the UAE to Qatar, on the face of it, sounds reasonable. However, the devil lies in the details. Some of the demands are laughable simply because they seek to deflect the role played by these nations to create the very problems that they accuse Qatar of. A possible reason why Qatar has become a target is because of the new ruler — who came to power after his father’s abdication — who is in his early 40s, which goes against all cultural norms in the Middle East.
As far as India is concerned, the crisis cannot be wished away because we import around $15 billion dollars worth of natural gas annually from Qatar. Along with this is the remittances, worth billions, that Indian citizens send back to India every year. With India structuring its Middle East policy around good relations with Saudi Arabia, Iran and Israel, the timing of the crisis in Qatar is bad because of the Chinese threat via the One Belt, One Road. It is conceivable that India may be forced to put the brakes on its relations with Iran — indirectly affecting relations with Russia as well — which will affect the International North South Transport Corridor). Only a delicate balancing act will ensure that India comes out of this crisis unscathed.
Akshay Viswanathan,
Thiruvananthapuram
The crisis in Qatar demands urgent reconciliation, given the already disturbed political state of the Arabian peninsula. Allegations of terror financing levelled against Qatar need to be subjected to constructive deliberations not just by the GCC but also by global mediators. India, with the largest expatriate community in this gas-rich gulf state, would do well to subtly explore efforts to defuse the crisis. To usher in long-lasting peace, UN mediation too cannot be overlooked.
Anjali B.,
Thiruvananthapuram
