­LAHORE - Pakistan’s security establishment will determine the ‘real threat’ to the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) in the light of its own threat assessment procedure before suggesting the government whether to send troops to protect the holy places and cities of the Kingdom or not, it has reliably been learnt.
Knowledgeable military sources, during background interviews to resolve the puzzle as to who will determine the real threat to territorial integrity of the KSA, told The Nation on Sunday, “We will follow our own threat assessment procedure to advise the government over the question of sending Pakistani troops to KSA to protect the holy places and the cities of the Kingdom. The current assessment does not suggest any real or imminent threat to our brotherly Muslim state.”
The media reports emanating from Middle East are suggesting that KSA and her allies in the region are of the considered opinion that Yemen crisis poses a real threat to the region and Pakistan being an old ally should send troops to assist them in the conflict.
Lawmakers from Lower House (National Assembly) and Upper House (Senate) passed a unanimous resolution on the crisis in Yemen, urging Islamabad to stay neutral in the conflict. However, Pakistan will come to KSA defence if the country’s sovereignty or territorial integrity is threatened, says the resolution.
Sharing more details on the issue, the sources informed that Pakistan’s mission in KSA and already present military men were sending home the feedback on day-to-day developments on the borders of the brotherly Arab Muslim state, besides close monitoring of the situation by threat assessment sections at home to determine the possible strength, equipment and logistical support being extended to the Houthi tribe to ascertain whether they had the capability to strike the Kingdom’s borders or not.
When asked what possible can Pakistani troops play if situation arises for sending them to KSA, they said they would provide ‘inner cordon security’ which includes protecting the holy places and the cities of the Kingdom, while the ‘outer cordon security’ would be responsibility of the host country.
About the number of troops possibly sent to KSA if the need arises, they informed that they were unsure about the possible strength but what they could say with certainty was that well-trained and battle-ready troops with smart maneuvers could get the job done even in small numbers.
They remarked that Parliament had adopted a unanimous resolution on Yemen which carried support of the military leadership without a fraction of doubt.
They said a clause of the Yemen resolution, which said that conflict in Yemen was not sectarian in nature but had the potential of turning into a sectarian conflict which could have critical fallout for the region including Pakistan, was based on their threat assessments.