A difficult but correct decision
Parliament has wisely decided to pass a resolution that calls on the govt not to accede to Saudi Arabia’s request
Pakistan, on its part, also proposed going to the UN Security Council for creating an environment conducive to a negotiated settlement. PHOTO: AFP
The Pakistani parliament has very wisely decided to pass a resolution that calls on the government not to accede to Saudi Arabia’s request to send our ground troops, fighter aircraft and naval ships to the Arabian Peninsula to join the Saudi-led military campaign of 10 Arab states against the Houthi rebels in Yemen. It was not an easy decision to make since the request had come from a country to which Pakistan is highly obliged for a number of reasons, not the least being the financial help that it had extended to Pakistan in every hour of need.
Moreover, some three million Pakistanis are working in the Kingdom and the neighbouring GCC countries, which makes Pakistan doubly obliged to these oil-rich Middle Eastern states. This very difficult decision was rendered possible, expediently enough, by the unanimous resolution passed on April 10 after a five-day debate by a joint session of parliament, which, while advising the government not to send troops to join in the Yemen conflict, has very rightly urged it to play a mediatory role. More precisely, the resolution has counseled the government to begin work in the UN Security Council and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation bloc to bring about a ceasefire. The decision by parliament will find its detractors, especially in the Middle East, as typified by the UAE’s minister of state for foreign affairs stringent criticism of the resolution. However, it should be noted that even before the resolution was passed, Pakistan had made it clear that it was committed to protect Saudi Arabia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty if threatened by the conflict.
Appropriately enough, even before convening the joint session of parliament, the government had sent a high-powered military delegation led by Defence Minister Khawaja Asif to Saudi Arabia to make an on-the-spot appraisal of the situation. Finding in their assessment that the continuation of the conflict in Yemen would have serious implications for regional security, our armed forces, which have had very close institutional links with Saudi Arabia and have done tours of duty in the Kingdom whenever it requested their assistance, had advisedly decided to respond, in the emerging situation, in accordance with the guidance provided by parliament.
In its own self-interest, Pakistan has, historically, always tried to remain out of intra-Ummah conflicts, especially those that had a sectarian basis. There is always the fear that our involvement in the Yemen imbroglio would impact adversely on inter-sect relations in our own country. It can also impinge on our commitment to the principle that no outsider had the right to intervene in another country’s internal conflict no matter what the provocation.
But since what was happening was in our neighbourhood and that, too, between brotherly Muslim countries and where more than three million Pakistanis were eking out their livelihood, it had become incumbent upon us to seek ways to douse the fire and help end the conflict through negotiated settlement. It was in this spirit that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif undertook a quick visit to Turkey, which perhaps encouraged the Turkish leadership to visit Iran and the Iranian foreign minister to visit Pakistan in quick succession. Playing its mediatory role, Pakistan conveyed to the Iranian foreign minister Saudi Arabia’s serious concerns about Tehran’s alleged backing of Yemeni Houthi rebels, who have overthrown the government of exiled president Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh. The Iranians, in response, proposed getting all sides to agree on immediate ceasefire, provision of humanitarian assistance to Yemenis trapped in conflict, initiation of an intra-Yemen dialogue and formation of a broad-based government. Pakistan, on its part, also proposed going to the UN Security Council for creating an environment conducive to a negotiated settlement. This is a work-in- progress and hopefully would culminate at the earliest in an accord acceptable to all the parties involved.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 12th, 2015.
Moreover, some three million Pakistanis are working in the Kingdom and the neighbouring GCC countries, which makes Pakistan doubly obliged to these oil-rich Middle Eastern states. This very difficult decision was rendered possible, expediently enough, by the unanimous resolution passed on April 10 after a five-day debate by a joint session of parliament, which, while advising the government not to send troops to join in the Yemen conflict, has very rightly urged it to play a mediatory role. More precisely, the resolution has counseled the government to begin work in the UN Security Council and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation bloc to bring about a ceasefire. The decision by parliament will find its detractors, especially in the Middle East, as typified by the UAE’s minister of state for foreign affairs stringent criticism of the resolution. However, it should be noted that even before the resolution was passed, Pakistan had made it clear that it was committed to protect Saudi Arabia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty if threatened by the conflict.
Appropriately enough, even before convening the joint session of parliament, the government had sent a high-powered military delegation led by Defence Minister Khawaja Asif to Saudi Arabia to make an on-the-spot appraisal of the situation. Finding in their assessment that the continuation of the conflict in Yemen would have serious implications for regional security, our armed forces, which have had very close institutional links with Saudi Arabia and have done tours of duty in the Kingdom whenever it requested their assistance, had advisedly decided to respond, in the emerging situation, in accordance with the guidance provided by parliament.
In its own self-interest, Pakistan has, historically, always tried to remain out of intra-Ummah conflicts, especially those that had a sectarian basis. There is always the fear that our involvement in the Yemen imbroglio would impact adversely on inter-sect relations in our own country. It can also impinge on our commitment to the principle that no outsider had the right to intervene in another country’s internal conflict no matter what the provocation.
But since what was happening was in our neighbourhood and that, too, between brotherly Muslim countries and where more than three million Pakistanis were eking out their livelihood, it had become incumbent upon us to seek ways to douse the fire and help end the conflict through negotiated settlement. It was in this spirit that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif undertook a quick visit to Turkey, which perhaps encouraged the Turkish leadership to visit Iran and the Iranian foreign minister to visit Pakistan in quick succession. Playing its mediatory role, Pakistan conveyed to the Iranian foreign minister Saudi Arabia’s serious concerns about Tehran’s alleged backing of Yemeni Houthi rebels, who have overthrown the government of exiled president Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh. The Iranians, in response, proposed getting all sides to agree on immediate ceasefire, provision of humanitarian assistance to Yemenis trapped in conflict, initiation of an intra-Yemen dialogue and formation of a broad-based government. Pakistan, on its part, also proposed going to the UN Security Council for creating an environment conducive to a negotiated settlement. This is a work-in- progress and hopefully would culminate at the earliest in an accord acceptable to all the parties involved.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 12th, 2015.