PHOTO: REUTERS
Putting to rest a media guessing game about a Saudi wish-list, the defence minister, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, confirmed on Monday that Riyadh has asked for Pakistani troops, warplanes and frigates to join the military coalition seeking to quash the Houthi rebellion in Yemen. But the government’s ‘policy statement’ read out by Asif in a joint session of parliament was dismissed by all opposition parties as “insufficient, inconclusive and ambiguous”.
Officially, Pakistan has said umpteen times that it would not jump into the Yemen fray militarily. However, any violation of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Saudi Arabia will evoke a strong response from Pakistan – a political euphemism for active military intervention.
The opposition believes it is an ambiguous statement. “What will be construed as a violation of Saudi Arabia’s territorial integrity,” asked Senator Aitzaz Ahsan, the leader of the opposition in the upper house of parliament. “Please tell us clearly what the Saudis have asked for and what options the government is considering,” he asked Asif.
“We all want peace in Saudi Arabia and we don’t want Pakistan’s relations with the kingdom to deteriorate but we want to know our government’s stance on the issue of Yemen,” he said. The veteran PPP senator suggested Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif meet ambassadors of all member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in an effort to find a political solution to the Yemen conundrum.
“There is need to differentiate between the king, the kingdom and the Harmain Sharifain (two holy mosques),” Senator Ahsan said, alluding to the House of Saud, the Saudi ruling family, and the kingdom which is home to the holiest Muslim places. Almost all opposition parties, including PTI, JUI-F and MQM shared Senator Ahsan’s concerns.
Earlier Defence Minister Asif, who recently led a high-powered delegation to Riyadh to assess the Saudi requirements, told lawmakers that Yemen was sliding into chaos and the deteriorating situation in the Arabian Peninsula had several implications for Pakistan and the entire region.
Given the gravity of the situation, Premier Nawaz Sharif decided that the matter warranted in-depth debate in parliament as this will help the government take decisions in national interests, Asif said. He added that safe evacuation of all Pakistanis stranded in the strife-torn country was a priority for the government in Islamabad. “We lived up to the expectations of our nation and successfully evacuated our nationals [from Yemen].”
Asif sought to dispel the impression that the government’s policy on Yemen has been ambiguous. “Our policy has been consistent. We have repeatedly said that Pakistan will defend Saudi Arabia’s sovereignty,” he said, adding that the prime minister has communicated this several times to the Saudi leadership.
He said that Saudi Arabia has asked Pakistan for ground troops, fighter jets and navy ships. “We reiterated our unflinching and unwavering commitment to Saudi Arabia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. Any violation of Saudi Arabia’s territorial integrity will evoke a strong response from Pakistan,” he said reiterating what the prime minister has said several times over the past few days. “This is our stance and this is what the Pakistani delegation conveyed to the Saudi officials during the recent visit,” he added.
The defence minister said that Premier Nawaz also travelled to Turkey last week and that both countries share similar views on the Yemen crisis. Islamabad and Ankara agree that continued chaos in Yemen could push the region into turmoil. Pakistan and Turkey consider Saudi Arabia as a ‘brother’ and vowed to protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity. He also spoke about a shuttle diplomatic initiative launched by the two countries to bring peace in Yemen.
At the end of his ‘policy statement’, the defence minister reiterated that any decision on helping the Saudis militarily would be taken with the consent of parliament. He added that the government would welcome views of the honorable parliamentarians to better understand the implications of the situation for Pakistan.
“We’re confident that a debate here [in parliament] will enable the government to formulate our policy in a manner that reflects the aspirations of the people of Pakistan and also protects our vital national interests,” he added.
Quite unsurprisingly, some lawmakers, especially those from the MQM and JUI-F and even the defence minister himself, heaped scorn on the PTI for returning to parliament more than seven months after its lawmakers resigned en masse from federal and provincial legislatures in protest against the government’s refusal to order a judicial inquiry into fraud allegations in the 2013 elections.
PTI Vice President Shah Mehmood Qureshi said he was surprised to see a joint parliamentary session convened to discuss the Yemen crisis was discussing PTI’s participation in the parliamentary debate. However, he didn’t think it prudent to the MQM’s diatribe against the PTI.
“There have been conflicting claims –- on the one hand, the Saudi media is claiming that Pakistan has already committed support to the kingdom, while in his speech, the defence minister said parliament will be taken into confidence before taking any decision,” Qureshi said.
He asked whether Pakistan was going to become a party in this crisis. Further, claiming there was no clarity in Asif’s speech, Qureshi demanded the government brief parliament on Saudi Arabia’s expectations from Pakistan. “There’s no doubt Saudi Arabia is our time-tested friend but can we fulfill their expectations?” he asked.
“Our armed forces are already engaged in a war in the tribal regions, as well as on eastern borders and in Balochistan,” he added. “Until the whole situation is clear, we cannot take any decision.” The parliamentary debate will continue today (Tuesday).
Published in The Express Tribune, April 7th, 2015.
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