Only an infidel would not rejoice at the Pact of Makkah and the rise of Pakistan; only an enemy of the country would fail to applaud Pakistan for uniting the Turks and the Arabs after centuries; only a prejudiced person would not applaud Pakistan’s proud entry into the Middle East after 79 years; only an enemy would refuse to acknowledge that the Middle East-centric policy formulated by the Field Marshal immediately upon becoming the Chief of Army Staff has proven fruitful; only a blind person would deny that Pakistan, emerging from the cage of South Asia, is blowing its trumpet in the global world and particularly in the Arab world; only a deaf person would fail to hear the echo of the preparations by the two most powerful armies of the Islamic world, Pakistan and Turkey, for the protection of Haramain Sharifain; only a mentally disabled person would ignore and deem unimportant the trilateral summit between the three shrewdest politicians of the Islamic world: MBS, Tayyip Erdogan, and Shehbaz Sharif. That Pakistani and Muslim will surely be mute who, seeing the practical shape of the Islamic unity that has existed for centuries, does not say Alhamdulillah out of gratitude. He must surely be lame who has not received news of Pakistan’s diplomatic and defensive move. Every person who wishes well for the Islamic world, the welfare and survival of humanity, and holds love and devotion for Pakistan, Turkiye, and Saudi Arabia will surely be happy and overjoyed.

Renowned historians and geographers of the world agree that geography plays a most vital role in the destiny of nations; often, countries become prisoners of geography, getting stuck in the cycle of fighting and competing with the animosities of their region and the narrow-mindedness of their neighbors. As long as Britain remained a prisoner of its geography, it was in constant competition with its neighboring France; every year saw a match in that hundred-year war. Once Britain escaped the prison of its geography, it became the great, supreme empire—the British Empire—while France, on the other hand, remained merely a regional power. Pakistan, too, has been a prisoner of its geography; it has continuously faced the hostile attitude of India, a country many times larger than itself, and Pakistan has had to remain prepared for its defense at all times. If the wars and skirmishes between Pakistan and India were to be counted, they would be no less than the fights between Britain and France. Our second neighbor is Afghanistan, which has been a headache for us from the inception of Pakistan to this day; whether we were its allies, we suffered losses, and when we are rivals, we are still continuously suffering losses. Afghanistan’s role for Pakistan has been like that of an acacia tree (kikar); Pakistan has always received only a gift of thorns from this Muslim brother and neighbor. The country of Pakistan is being crushed like two millstones between Afghanistan and India; Afghanistan has blocked Pakistan’s traditional trade route to Central Asia, namely the Silk Road. Just as Britain established its awe across the world only when it got rid of its geographical imprisonment, it seems that Pakistan, too, has broken out of the geographical jail of South Asia and come to stand at the center of the Middle East. In this regard, the credit for formulating, running, and successfully executing the Middle East-centric policy undoubtedly goes to General Asim Munir. The parenthetical remark is that our human, economic, and diplomatic sacrifices kept going to waste in the stones of Afghanistan; now, for the first time, we are making a forceful entry into the Middle East, a land of petrodollars and mountains of gold and diamonds. Those who weigh stones and frogs remain frogs in a well themselves; now we are not frogs of South Asia, but birds of the international sky—if we do not take pride in this, then what else should we do?

For Pakistan, a psychological issue was also that, just as “home-cooked chicken is equal to lentils” (ghar ki murghi daal barabar), Afghanistan and India never acknowledged Pakistan’s extraordinary capabilities, nuclear successes, and martial achievements. Good on President Trump, who beat the drum of Pakistan’s successes in the Pak-India war so loudly that it benefited our Middle East-centric policy. Regardless of how much success or failure was achieved in the Iran-US mediation, Pakistan’s diplomatic capabilities and the foresight of Pakistan’s military and political leadership consolidated our standing on the international stage through this matter, and now, with the Pak-Turkiye-Saudi agreement, these step-by-step successes have been stamped with confirmation.

The historical, religious, and political status of Meeqat-e-Makkah is also worthy of consideration. After the separation of the Arab world from the Ottoman Empire, the mutual attitude of Turkey and the Arabs was one of estrangement and alienness; because of Pakistan, the process of bridging the gulf that began in the 1800s has started. Turkiye is currently manufacturing state-of-the-art drones and warplanes; its army, like Pakistan’s, possesses a glorious past. Years before this pact, the dream seen by Jamaluddin Afghani regarding the unity of the Muslim Ummah has been fulfilled; although Afghani considered Iran to be most vital for this unity, and Iran is not included in this pact, this is the beginning of the realization of that dream—it is possible that some form of collaboration between Iran and the Sunni world might also emerge to bridge the Sunni and Shia divide.

Just as a fault-finding wife, even if her husband shows her that he can fly in the air through spiritual power, still objects by saying, “You were flying crookedly,” similarly, objections are being raised against Pakistan’s flight, questioning whether Pakistan will also get economic benefits in return or not? In this humble writer’s opinion, Pakistan’s economic problem is severe, but celebration and joy over this diplomatic, defensive, and strategic success are not conditional upon economic benefits. That is not the main dish on the dining menu, but rather a side or sweet dish; conditioning the importance of the agreement upon a sweet dish will also be considered prejudice. It cannot be that during the agreement with Saudi Arabia, certain verbal matters regarding the Pakistani economy were not settled as well. For now, it is an occasion for joy; this time, let us celebrate the 14th of August Independence Day with the beating of drums and amidst echoing slogans.