Pakistan

PML-N discusses possibility of committing troops to Saudi Arabia: sources

Approves to call an All Parties Conference on Yemen conflict

Abdul Manan April 01, 2015

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif chairs a high level meeting to review the overall law and order condition in the country on Wednesday, April 1, 2015. PHOTO: PIPD

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) on Wednesday approved the formation of a judicial commission to probe alleged rigging in the 2013 general elections, and discussed the possibility to commit troops for the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen, The Express Tribune has learnt.

According to an official handout, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif chaired a high-level meeting at the PM House to review the overall political situation in the country.

Sources said the party's consultative meeting discussed a number of issues, including the outcomes of formation of the commission, whereas Finance Minister Ishaq Dar was assigned to tackle all issues with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.

Further, PM Nawaz sought party's input on Saudia Arabia’s demands of committing Pakistani troops, and majority of the leaders were of the view that the government should provide all military support to the KSA.

The government delegation, which went to Saudia Arabia will meet the prime minister on Thursday, and apprise him of the KSA’s needs, added the sources.

Further, according to sources, the party’s consultative meeting endorsed the idea of opposition parties to call an All Parties Conference (APC) to develop a political consensus on the government's expected decision of sending troops to the Kingdom.

The prime minister, keeping in view the timing for KSA's needs, would call the APC to announce the government's decision, added the sources.

‘Steps being taken to tackle energy crises'

The prime minister asked all PML-N leaders, particularly the ministers to play their role in providing maximum relief to the people.

“Record development has always taken place during the tenures of PML-N and this process is still continuing,” said Nawaz.

He added that steps were being taken to tackle energy crisis during the government’s current tenure.

While Dar briefed the meeting about the ongoing talks with PTI, other participants in the meeting included Raja Zafarul Haq, Pervaiz Rashid, and Ahsan Iqbal, among other senior party leaders.

COMMENTS (8)

Sonya | 9 years ago | Reply The nation wants to know what the Pakistani delegation has offered and what Saudis have demanded - this is not your private business Mr Sharif. Your mandate is controversial - you need to be cleared for authenticity by the Judicial Commission where or not you can represent Pakistan.

S.R.H. Hashmi | 9 years ago | Reply It was shocking to see the photograph of a Saudi gentleman who had to undergo an operation to remove the heel of his wife's shoe that got lodged into his head during an apparent disagreement with his wife which acquired serious proportions. Seems to me that while Saudis face a threat in their sectarian war with Iran, they face an even greater threat at home, from their wives that is. And to make it worse, their defence pact with Pakistan guarantees them no relief against this sort of eventuality, nor can the joint Arab military force do much in this regard. So, the Saudis will themselves have to devise ways and means against this sort of threat. I apologize for discussing a matter which some may consider to be strictly between husband and wife but I seriously believe that when it leaves confines of home and reaches hospital operation theatres, it can no longer be treated strictly as a private matter and merits public discussion in order to find safer and mutually acceptable means to diffuse such situations. The good news is that the agreement between PML-N and PTI to have the last elections probed by a Judicial Commission has reached the final stage and may be signed today, though prudence demands that we believe it only when we see it signed. And even if the the agreement gets signed, sealed and delivered, it may at best prove only a temporary respite because PTI leaders with ambitions as high as the sky, may not find the probe results entirely to their liking, and we may see PTI crowds on the streets and containers, again. And with confidence gained through the ever-improving ties with the army chief, Nawaz Sharif declared "Record development has always taken place during the tenures of PML-N and this process is still continuing." Unfortunately for the country and the nation, Nawaz Sharif's idea of development begins with motorways which, after nearly two decades, has progressed and advanced to include Metro Buses as well. Unfortunately, the higher things which actually make a nation somehow escape his attention, being far beyond his 'vision', with the young Sharif not being much different. We know during Nawaz Sharif's last stint, country's foreign exchange reserves sank so low that he was left with no choice but to confiscate foreign exchange held legally by Pakistanis in their foreign exchange accounts, for which he gave rupee equivalent later. And gifted with a brilliant mind, he found a novel way to recover from these difficulties. He opened state accounts at banks, in Pakistan and abroad, asking Pakistanis to donate generously to the account titled, I think, 'Qarz Utaro, Mulk Sanwaro'. Unfortunately, even that measure did not help much though there were rumours of big leakage from the amounts collected by the government under the scheme. Karachi

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AB | 9 years ago | Reply @ Chachoo Have we not learnt anything from history. Human lives over money.

Shehryar | 9 years ago | Reply @Chachoo: It is very easy to blame others for Pak's own short sighted decisions. Do you remember Pak's all out assistance to Saudi Arabia in training Pak's own youth to fight the Soviets? Do you not see the outcome of that decision? How is it that supporting Saudi Arabia now is going to help? You want to isolate Iran, a country that has more progressive youth in the most prestigious US/European universities, institutions than all of Arab countries together and side with a country like Saudi Arabia that has the most corrupt ruling elite and a shady past of inciting religious extremism all over the world? Don't you see what they have done to your own country? Your argument of economic well being related to helping Saudi is completely flawed. Countries don't transform their economies by lending their forces to rich countries to fight their wars. Countries transform economies by educating their masses to bring illiteracy down, transforming healthcare to increase life expectancy and elevate quality of life, creating a capitalistic system in which the youth is empowered to start international businesses and fighting poverty to boost their well being.

Naeem Khan | 9 years ago | Reply "Further, PM Nawaz sought party’s input on Saudia Arabia’s demands of committing Pakistani troops, and majority of the leaders were of the view that the government should provide all military support to the KSA." Majority of the leaders are rubber stamp and could not care less what is in the interest of Pakistan. It is well known fact that Nawaz Sharif has gotten million of dollars as a loan from the KSA's royal family and has opened up business there and is obligated to them but dragging Pakistan into a sectarian conflict of Yemen is detrimental to Pakistan integrity. We are already having acute sectarian problems in the country and let us not forget that Pakistan consist the 2nd largest Shia population in the country after Iran. These Sharif brothers could make deals with religious terrorists to spare Punjab but the rest of Pakistan is acceptable to be killing field. It is time for the people to stand up and see to it that Sharifs do not sell out Pakistan for their own sefish financial gains. And why don't we hear anything from the Army Chief General Sharif any more, is he agreeing to rent out Pakistani forces to foreigners. Has not these foreigners done enough damage to Pakistan's integrity.

cautious | 9 years ago | Reply @Chachoo: "America has committed its troops around the world. America get billions of Dollars by their troop deployment in Kuwait, Bahrain and Middle east. So why not Pakistan can do the same?" . Hate to break your bubble but the USA spends Billions committing troops around the World and doesn't get paid anything. The one and only time the USA got reimbursed was during the first gulf war when Saudi Arabia and Kuwait decided to help out but both were one the verge of losing their Kingdoms and the USA was their only hope.

Tariq Mahmood | 9 years ago | Reply The caterpillar must've poo'd in it.

Chachoo | 9 years ago | Reply America has committed its troops around the world. America get billions of Dollars by their troop deployment in Kuwait, Bahrain and Middle east. So why not Pakistan can do the same?. Pakistan should station around 20-30000 troops in Saudi Arabia. As a result Pakistan can get long term benefits ( mainly economic). PAF wants to produce JF 17 Block C and D in 2017-20 and Saudia can give funding for this project. We also want funding for our space program and Saudia can finance our Space program as well. Moreover we should remember that Saudi Arabia have more than 2 million Pakistanis on their land. We should protect our financial interests and should protect their job prospects. Already Kuwait has banned Pakistanis from any Visas due to Indian influence and hundreds of thousands Pakistanis lost jobs and these jobs were distributed to Indian workers. In this case as well India can cash in. Our government should be careful and should commit troops to maximize their influence in this region. Moreover Qatar is an ally of Saudia. Our county will be dependent on future LNG imports from Qatar. Already we secured a good deal of 8 Dollars per mmbtu on LNG. So we can get more concessions on oil imports as well in the future by our good decisions.

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