ISLAMABAD - The government has said it will dispatch a top civil-military delegation to Saudi Arabia promising a “strong response” to any threat to the Gulf kingdom, following Riyadh’s request that it join a coalition to defend Yemen’s president.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif chaired a high-level meeting here Thursday evening to discuss the issue while the defence minister later clearly indicated Islamabad has decided to join a coalition of over 10 states against Shia Huthi rebels in Yemen at Saudi Arabia’s asking.
The meeting, which was attended by Defence Minister Khwaja Muhammad Asif, Adviser to PM on National Security Sartaj Aziz, Army Chief General Raheel Sharif and Air Chief Sohail Aman, had a threadbare discussion on recent developments in the Middle East and joining Saudi-led operation in Yemen.
“Pakistan enjoys close and brotherly relations with Saudi Arabia and other GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries and attaches great importance to their security,” Sharif told the meeting, which decided to send a top-level delegation to Saudi Arabia on Friday (today) to assess the situation, PM’s office said in a statement.
“The meeting concluded that any threat to Saudi Arabia’s territorial integrity would evoke a strong response from Pakistan” and decided that Defence Minister Kh Asif and National Security Adviser Sartaj Aziz would travel to KSA, along with top military figures.
Kh Asif later told a private TV channel that the group will include the chiefs of all the three armed forces and senior ministers of the country. Pakistan won’t leave the brotherly state alone in its hour of need as the kingdom has always assisted Pakistan in hard times, he said. He reminded that KSA provided oil to Pakistan free of cost in 1999.
“We (government) have not concealed anything and announced it (decision to help) clearly,” he said, adding he would also take the parliament into confidence today (Friday). He said no violation of Saudi territory has taken place yet but Islamabad will respond with full might if sovereignty of the Kingdom is attacked. He said around 750 Pakistani troops were already in the KSA.
Yemen is teetering on the brink of civil war as turmoil has grown since Huthis launched a power grab in February. The Sunni majority Gulf kingdom has begun air strikes against Huthi rebels and the Saudi ambassador in Washington said a coalition of 10 countries, including Pakistan, was being formed to protect the Yemeni government.
The rebels and their allies had been closing in on main southern city Aden, where President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi has been holed up since fleeing the rebel-controlled capital Sanaa last month. Their advance raised Saudi fears that the Shia minority rebels would seize control of the whole of its Sunni-majority neighbour and take it into the orbit of Shia Iran.
Islamabad has longstanding close ties to Saudi Arabia but joining the coalition might irk Pakistan’s minority Shia community and neighbour Iran. Some circles in Pakistan cautioned that active participation in of the country in a conflict being seen in the lens of longstanding regional Shia-Sunni power tussle could create troubles at home as the country has already seen years of sectarian fight at its own territory.
Such concerns saw an expression in the Senate where an independent Senator Mohsin Khan Leghari on Thursday submitted a calling attention notice seeking an explanation from authorities over Saudi request for Pakistani assistance in its military campaign in Yemen. He asked minister in-charge of the Cabinet Division to clarify the government’s stance, saying the House must be apprised about the possibilities of our armed forces being sent to take part in the conflict.
Kh Asif in his TV talk however denied the impression the Yemeni conflict was sectarian in nature. “We are not going to be part of any seatrain war,” he said, adding that “we have brotherly relations with Saudi Arabia” and Pakistan’s commitment to kingdom’s security will be honoured at every cost.
The Foreign Office earlier in the day confirmed the kingdom had asked Pakistan to join the coalition but did not tell if any decision has been taken on the matter. “I can confirm we have been contacted by Saudi Arabia in this regard. The matter is being examined. That’s all I have to say at the moment,” FO spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam told a regular press briefing.
The spokesperson said Pakistani community in Yemen has been alerted in view of the current situation there. “No decision has yet been taken to shut down the (country’s) embassy (in Yemni capital Saana). The Embassy has also been alerted. Since they are on the ground, they have to give their assessment of the situation. If the assessment is that situation has reached a stage where they need to be evacuated then they will be evacuated”, she added.