IMAFT: Objectives, Members and its Role in Current Geopolitics

Saudi Arabia made quite the headline on 15 December 2015 when the Minister of Defense of the country, Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud mooted the idea and subsequently announced the formation of a 34-country Islamic Military Alliance (IMA) or Islamic Military Alliance to Fight Terrorism (IMAFT) . On January 6, 2017, former Chief of Army Staff of Pakistan, General (Retired) Raheel Sharif was named as the IMA’s first Commander-in-Chief. Its headquarters are located at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Objectives

The basic objective of IMAFT , also called “Muslim NATO” is to serve as an inter-governmental counter-terrorism alliance against spread of ISIS in the region. Under this initiative, the Muslim countries have united for a military intervention against ISIS/ISIL and other terror organizations. It aims to battle against all outfitted gatherings and terrorist organizations that have been or are still involved in different kinds of terrorism. The stated objectives of IMA are as follows:

• Efforts coordination to combat terrorism in countries like Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Libya and Afghanistan.
• Helping participating members to fight against all terrorist groups by providing military support.
• Fighting against ISIS and other terrorist nations like Al Qaida and Boko Haram.
• International collaboration with powerful states to carry out operations in Syria against ISIS.
• Helping non-member countries of IMAFT to eradicate terrorism from their states.

Members

The coalition had started off with only 34 members which gradually rose to 39 by March 2016. All the initial 34 members of IMA are also members of Organizational of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and they form about 60% of all the OIC states. We note that Saudi Arabia is regional opponent of Iran, so Iran and its friend Syria; and Iraq are not its members. Current members of IMA are show in below table:

Future possible members

Indonesia (world’s largest Muslim nation) have shown their interest in the alliance and also extended their support. Azerbaijan and Tajikistan are also considering joining the alliance. Invitation has also been sent to Afghanistan to join the alliance.

Military strength

Pakistan is the only Muslim-majority member country of the IMA with nuclear arms, along with a 620,000-strong Army with 3,000 main battle tanks, an Air Force with 1,032 aircraft, and a Navy with 63 surface ships, 101 aircraft, and 8 submarines. Pakistan has the sixth largest standing armed forces on the planet as well as close military cooperation with China. As of 2017, Pakistan has a nuclear triad with the successful launch of submarine-based nuclear weapons by the Pakistan Navy.

Turkey has a strong military-industrial base, producing platforms such as the Altay main battle tank, the MILGEM corvettes, the TAI/AgustaWestland T129 attack helicopter, the Bayraktar unmanned aerial vehicle and the TAI TFX 5th Generation Air superiority fighter.

United Arab Emirates Union Defense Force possesses the highly advanced F-16 fighters, namely F-16 E/F Block 60. The United Arab Emirates Air Force has also been involved in a series of anti-terrorists operations in Syria.

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has one of the best-funded defense forces in the Middle East. The kingdom spends 25% of its budget, or about $88 billion, on its military. In terms of manpower, Saudi Arabia has about 688,000 active personnel in its military, with 300,000 army troops. Saudi Arabia also has more than 200,000 men in its national guard^.

Criticisms

When Riyadh announced the military alliance on 15 December 2015, several of the countries listed as joining or invited seemed surprised. Afghanistan and Indonesia had both been invited to join the alliance but had not yet accepted by late March 2016. Ten other countries had been invited to join the alliance but had been dragging their feet. Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry said it had been invited to join a “center to coordinate against extremism and terrorism,” not a military alliance. Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry denied having knowledge of Saudi Arabia’s creation of an Islamic antiterrorism coalition. Hakeem Azameli, a member of the Security and Defense Commission of Iraq had called this coalition “a sectarian coalition” due to the dominance of states having majority Sunni Muslim population in the coalition.

Questions & Answers

The above discussion makes it clear that IMA is still at baby stage and its role and influence is yet to be seen. At this point, we can discuss it in the light of below questions:

What are the things that are still not known of IMAFT?

It is not clear what kind of organizational structure will it have. Neither, it is clear what would be its stand on Yemen crisis, Iraq and Syria. It is also unclear whether it would be based on NATO’s pattern or Warsaw pact. Also, General Sharif’s appointment does not make it clear if his post is advisory or he has substantial command over the armies of these countries. Also, if General Sharif would need to take orders from Saudi leadership.

Is there any possibility of Iran joining IMA, given the traditional acrimony between Saudi Arabia and Iran?

The current climate in middle east hints towards a distant possibility of Iran joining IMA. Iran and Saudi Arabia are Shia and Sunni majority countries respectively and are rivals of each other. Iran has different views on several issues including crisis in Yemen and Syria. Even if Iran joins it, the efficacy of IMA as a whole as a military organization would be doubtful.

What has been reaction of West towards IMAFT?

The former U.S Secretary of Defense, Ash Carter, had welcomed the new alliance. Germany welcomed the alliance but also mentioned that it should be a part of the Vienna process involving all countries fighting against IS like the U.S., Europe, Russia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, but also including Iran and China.

How about joining of Pakistan and Bangladesh? Can there be any implications for South Asia also?

After much ambiguity Pakistan also has welcomed the alliance and confirmed its participation stating that it is waiting for further details in order to decide the extent of its participation in the different activities of the alliance. Bangladesh, being one of the early members to join the alliance, confirmed its participation in a joint statement by the founder nations that stated “a duty to protect the Islamic nation from the evils of all terrorist groups and organizations whatever their sect and name which wreak death and corruption on earth and aim to terrorize the innocent.”

We note here that the clout of an organization like IMAFT can be pillared on military might of countries like Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. For South Asia, there may not be very important implications but for Pakistan’s neighbourhood, it is very important.  We note that Pakistan was invited to join IMA during the Saudi led air-strikes in Yemen against Iran-backed Houthi rebels. The Community in Pakistan had protested against their country joining this bandwagon. At that time, Pakistan had refused to join. This was mainly because of its close energy cooperation with Iran. But at the same time, Saudi Arabia is also one of the largest benefactors of Pakistan. This is the reason, that Pakistan was in quandary to join or not to join.