The Best Of Frenemies

[Valin]

Strategy Page:

August 12, 2012:

 

Although India and Saudi Arabia should be the best of enemies they have been growing closer over the last decade. While Saudi Islamic conservatives consider Hinduism (the religion of 80 percent of Indians) paganism of the worst sort, Saudi leaders take a more balanced view. India has supplied Arabia with manufactured goods and knowledge for thousands of years. *Over a million Indians work in Saudi Arabia, the largest foreign contingent in the kingdom's huge expatriate workforce. India has the second largest number of Moslems of any country on the planet. Most importantly, India was quick to offer counter-terrorism help when al Qaeda turned on Saudi Arabia in 2003. Since then, the Saudis and Indians have cooperated closely to battle the Islamic terror groups that threaten them both.

 

All of this bothers Pakistan, also an ancient friend of Arabia. While overwhelmingly Moslem; Pakistan contains a province (Sindh) where Hinduism has its origins. Much of the ancient Indian trade with Arabia came from modern Pakistan. There is more trade with India now, but Pakistan has also provided a lot of workers, but not nearly as many as India, or with such a profusion of skills.

 

One thing that Pakistan provides, that Saudi Arabia does not like at all, is sanctuary for Islamic terrorists, including some who have carried out attacks in Saudi Arabia. When pressed by Saudi Arabia, Pakistan denies any knowledge of Saudi terrorists in Pakistan, or insists that these fellows must be in the tribal territories, where government control is weak. Saudi Arabia knows better, and that's one reason the Saudis have turned to India, which has a similar problem with Pakistan.

(Snip)

 

*India’s Desperate Migrant Workers

Walter Russell Mead

8/11/12

 

India has a long and storied tradition of migrant workers seeking their fortune abroad to escape poverty back home. More than 30 million Indians are estimated to now be living outside of India. Of those, many go to the oil-rich Gulf states, which are famously dependent on foreign labor.

 

But this too is no picnic. Treatment of foreign workers in Muslim countries is often terrible. A Non-Resident Indian (NRI) migrant worker living in a Gulf country which just had its 31st Indian suicide this year, sheds light on their despair in an op-ed for The Hindu:

(Snip)