Pakistan’s parliament has decided not to let its troops get involved in Saudi Arabia’s military campaign against the rebels in Yemen, but has promised to protect their longstanding ally’s territorial integrity. The resolution makes no sense. Is it really possible for Islamabad to protect Riyadh from thousands of miles away? There is one solution that the parliament hasn’t thought of.
Pakistan’s “contradictory and ambiguous views on this decisive matter will have a high cost,” tweeted Anwar Gargash, the minister of state for foreign affairs for the UAE. “This is not only ironic but a thought-provoking moment that a minister of UAE is threatening Pakistan,” Chaudhry Nisar said in response to the tweet. I believe it is ironic and a thought-provoking moment that Chaudhry Nisar follows Anwar Gargash on Twitter.
That being said, this is a matter of principle. In my opinion, just like the US, Saudi Arabia too has a right to launch a preemptive strike on an Arab country to restore democracy. And just like the US, Saudi Arabia too has a right to threaten Pakistan to join their coalition. It is unfortunate that the social media is replacing the traditional way of making such threats, such as over the telephone, but that does not mean we don’t have a moral responsibility to comply.
It is no small foreign policy victory for Pakistan that so many countries – from the sole superpower America, to the holy kingdom of Saudi Arabia – think they cannot carry out indiscriminate bombing campaigns that kill civilians without our help.
Now, I am not saying Pakistan should send its military to get involved in an unending war in Yemen that cannot be won. I believe that we should keep our troops at home, so that they can focus on an unending war in Pakistan that cannot be won.
But that does not mean we shouldn’t help our Arab brethren. We have always counted on them in the time of need, and now that they need us, we must offer our help.
For decades now, Saudi Arabia has sent in people to Pakistan and Afghanistan who are ready to fight to protect Islam. It has funded capacity building projects to help us produce our own breed of people who would fight for Islam. It is time to give back to our allies.
I propose that Pakistan should send the local Taliban, as well as other militant and religious groups who are coming out in support of Riyadh, to go and defend Saudi Arabia. Pakistani militant commanders and religious ideologues can not only prove a formidable tool in Saudi Arabia’s proxy wars, we can also fund religious seminaries and training centers in the country to help them raise a generation of their own militants who would fight to protect Islam as and when required.
The Saudis may learn even more from the Taliban about how to stop differentiating between civilian and military targets and cause indiscriminate suffering. Pakistani religious groups may also guide Riyadh and its allies on how to suppress or kill Shias.
The move will be beneficial for Pakistan in other ways. We have been trying to fight violent extremism for years now. We have established that the root causes of extremism are poverty and a lack of awareness. When the Taliban will travel to other parts of the world, it will broaden their horizons. As they will see the world outside Pakistan, they will encounter various cultures and customs and will slowly realize the importance of pluralism and harmony.
Pakistan’s biggest fear, if it does not comply with the demands of the Arab coalition, is that the remittances from its workers in Gulf countries will dry out. These remittances play a significant role in Pakistan’s economy. When the Taliban will go and work in the lucrative defense sector in Saudi Arabia, there will be a significant increase in their income, much of which will come back to Pakistan in the form of remittances. This money will also help fight poverty in the country, and thus eliminate a major cause of extremism.
The prime minister had promised that if there were a threat to Saudi Arabia, all of Pakistan’s assets will be at its disposal. What assets have Pakistan really had other than the Taliban?