Emirati Analyst's Mocking Post About Pakistan Exposes Gulf Unease Over Pact

Former UAE presidential aide Abdulkhaleq Abdulla posts on X that it is one of the "paradoxes of time" that Pakistan — where he says a quarter of the population is poor and a third illiterate — could "opportunistically" position itself to defend Saudi Arabia, one of the world's 20 largest economies, citing its roughly 170 nuclear warheads as its main qualification. The post, which drew over a million views, sparks sharp pushback from users defending Pakistan's economy and geopolitical weight. Analysts say the episode lays bare persistent UAE anxiety that the trilateral pact sidelines the GCC framework in favor of a rival axis.