ISLAMABAD  -   Former chief of army staff General (retd) Raheel Sharif, the head of 41-nation Saudi-led Islamic military coalition, Wednesday said the coalition had not been created to take action against any specific country or a particular sect rather its purpose was to eliminate terrorism. Raheel Sharif made these remarks during the visit of a Senate delegation led by Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani to the Islamic Military Counterterrorism Coalition (IMCTC) headquarters in Riyadh. “Commander of the IMCTC (Retd) General Raheel Sharif brushed aside the impression that the coalition has been created to take action against any specific state, nation or a particular sect,” Sharif was quoted as saying by the Senate Secretariat. Raheel Sharif informed that Senate chairman that the basic aim of this institution was to counter terrorism and eliminate it, the secretariat said. Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani along with his nine-member Senate delegation is on a week-long visit to Saudi Arabia that started from last Monday.

Chairman Senate was accompanied by members of the delegation during visit to the IMCTC headquarters.  The delegation was accorded warm welcome by retired General Raheel Sharif and coalition’s Deputy Commander General Abdur Rehman. The delegation was given a detailed briefing about the role and purpose of IMCTC.  Senate Chairman and members of the delegation praised King Suleman Bin Abdul Aziz and Saudi government for their role in eliminating terrorism, the secretariat said.

The appointment of Raheel Sharif as the chief of the Saudi military alliance last year had sparked an uproar how a former army chief was allowed to head a coalition whose terms of reference were not clear and without the approval of the parliament. At that time, it was being feared that the alliance might be used against Yemen while there is a unanimous resolution of the parliament that Pakistani would remain neutral to the Saudi-led Yemen war.

Last week, the Supreme Court in its judgement on foreign nationalities of government officials ruled General (Retd) Raheel Sharif shall lose its foreign employment with immediate effect if the federal government does not grant him a No Objection Certificate (NOC) within a month. The judgement said that Sharif prior to his employment got NOCs from the General Headquarters (GHQ) and the Ministry of Defence but according to Section 3 of the Act of 1966, it was only the federal government which can grant permission to an ex-government servant to seek or take up employment as an officer or servant of a foreign government or agency. According to senate Secretariat, chairman Senate also visited MISK Foundation along with the members of his delegation. Head of MISK Foundation Badar ud Din Qaheel welcomed the Chairman Senate and briefed the delegation about the roles and functions of the foundation. It was told that the foundation was founded by Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman and the rationale is to prepare the young Saudi population to deal with the challenges of the future. The foundation offers training to the youth in the areas of education, culture and media.

The delegation was given a tour of different sections of the foundation and was briefed on their working. Chairman Senate lauded the initiative of vision 2030 under which the youth is being trained on the standards of developed world. He appreciated the work of MISK Foundation and expressed his dream of inclusion of Pakistani youth in the foundation. The delegation headed by chairman Senate includes senators Ahmed Khan, Mirza Muhammad Afridi, Naseebullah Bazai, Fida Muhammad Khan, Talha Mehmood, Dilawar Khan, Khanzada Khan, Ghous Muhammad Khan Niazi, and Additional Secretary Senate Hafeezullah Sheikh.