LETTER: This is apropos a Business Recorder op-ed "Pakistan-Saudi relationship" carried by to newspaper yesterday. The newspaper has concluded its argument by stating that "Pakistan's balancing act most of course continue in its own national interest, but care must be exercised not to appear to be sprinkling salt on the perceived wounds inflicted on Saudi sensibilities by loose talk."

It is true that every country is required to maintain a delicate balance between different situations or requirements. That the current Islamabad-Riyadh tension constitute a challenge to the government is also true.

But it's not always possible to do a balancing act. Saudi Arabia has pulled support to Pakistan after foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi purportedly slammed Riyadh for its stand on the Kashmir dispute. Now army chief Gen Bajwa will visit Saudi Arabia in quest to smoothen strained relations. Be that as it may, it is interesting to note that the 'phrase balancing act' was first used to circus artists performance, jugglery. Then slowly, according to the idioms.com, its usage expanded to metaphorical meaning for trying to be politically correct.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020