Muslim Asia caught in the middle after Qatar row

Non-Arab nations in Asia, such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Pakistan, are getting caught in the middle after Saudi Arabia led a clampdown on Qatar, accusing the tiny emirate of supporting pro-Iranian Islamist militants.

Malaysia had rolled out the red carpet for Saudi Arabia's King Salman at the end of February, the first by a Saudi king to Malaysia in more than a decade. Then, the following month, Kuala Lumpur signed a defence cooperation agreement with Qatar.

A source close to the Malaysian government said that the recent efforts to strengthen ties with Qatar, including a visit by the foreign minister last month, will probably now be put on the backburner.

Indonesia has sometimes tried to play a mediating role when inter-Arab tensions have flared. Jakarta's Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi received a phone call from Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Monday who wanted to discuss the rift.

Indonesia has called for reconciliation and dialogue in the latest diplomatic clash.

Sunni-majority Pakistan maintains deep links with the establishment in Riyadh, which provided Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif with political asylum after he was ousted in a 1999 military coup.

But with a large Shia minority and a shared western border with Iran, Pakistan has a lot to lose from rising sectarian tensions. In 2015, Pakistan declined a Saudi call to join a Riyadh-led military intervention in Yemen to fight Iranian-allied insurgents.

Pakistan has maintained official silence about the latest rift in the Arab world, loathe to be seen taking sides between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Pakistan also has close ties with Qatar itself.

“Pakistan has to act very carefully. In my opinion, there is only one option for Pakistan: to stay neutral," said retired army Brigadier Shaukat Qadir, now an independent risk and security analyst.