President Zardari's visit to Saudi Arabia and his meeting with King Abdullah - preceded by three days sojourn to Iran where he held separate meetings with the Iranian leadership - according to diplomatic circles, was a part of the mediating efforts that Pakistan is making to defuse tensions between the two brotherly Islamic countries which had sky-rocketed in the backdrop of the unrest in Bahrain, where Saudis supported the Sunni ruler and Iran backed the Shiite community.
The relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran have been constantly on the decline since the Iranian Revolution and the two countries also had severe differences on the Iraq issue and the Iranian support of Hizbollah in Lebanon. The mounting tension in the Gulf region as a result of the renewed hostility between the two friends, was a matter of great concern to Pakistan and therefore it could not remain aloof or indifferent to the situation. Viewed in the backdrop of the foregoing facts, Zardari indeed was the man on a noble mission, in the best of Islamic traditions.
Reportedly, the mission has been successful in the sense that both sides have agreed in principle to engage in a dialogue behind the scene in a bid to narrow the cleavage between them. The interior minister Rehman Malik, reportedly has been entrusted to undertake shuttle diplomacy to facilitate progress on the agreed points.
Pakistan owed it to both the brotherly countries, especially Saudi Arabia to play the mediating role. Developments in Afghanistan, US talks with Taliban and post-America scenario in that war ravaged country, were also exhaustively discussed, including a possible role by Saudi Arabia in facilitating the process of reconciliation. The opportunity was also utilised by leaders of both the countries to review their bilateral relations.