ISLAMABAD: Senators expressed concern on Friday over the government’s decision to become part of the Saudi-led military coalition, asked it to disclose the terms of reference of the force and warned against entering any proxy war.

During a discussion on an adjournment motion about the “key commitments made by the federal government to the Islamic Military Counter-Terrorism Coalition without taking the parliament into confidence”, they said the government should explain the military component of the arrangement, particularly the position to be taken by Pakistan in case the force was sent to a Muslim country.

Some of them expressed fears that the alliance had in fact been put together to act against Iran.

They cited the parliamentary decision given in the form of a resolution at the beginning of the ongoing crisis in Yemen, which held that Pakistan should not join any military alliance, and said the government should have consulted parliament in the same manner in this case as well.

Opening the discussion, Senator Farhatullah Babar of the Pakistan Peoples Party said it was frightening that both the Foreign Office and parliament were in the dark about the terms of reference of the alliance even three weeks after its formal launch in Riyadh. He said the foreign ministry talked of four dimensions of the alliance, including the military angle, but it had no clue as to what that entailed.

Warn against entering a proxy war

Reading out from a report on a press talk of the Foreign Office spokesperson, Mr Babar said the spokesman “had no information and asked the authorities for details”.

“Who is that authority beyond the FO [Foreign Office] and parliament [that is] privy to details of engagement in the four listed domains, particularly the military side?” he asked.

He also warned against engaging in a military conflict in the Middle East. “We have already burnt our fingers in the conflict in Afghanistan; let us not burn ourselves totally by engaging in a military conflict in the Middle East.”

Even after the defence ministers of dozens of Muslim countries had met and supposedly finalised the terms of the alliance no one seemed to know exactly what these were, he said. This only strengthened the perception that “invisible and unaccountable ghosts” were running all the policies.

He reminded all those present that within days of the Riyadh meeting, former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was tilting towards Saudi Arabia, was murdered brutally. “This should serve as a warning that the conflict can easily spiral and drag Pakistan into the quicksand of the Middle East,” he said.

Mr Babar said the army chief undertook a visit to Iran, but parliament was still unaware as to what transpired during that trip. He asked the chair to give a ruling on the matter.

Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani remarked in a lighter vein that he too would become a “victim of enforced disappearances” if he did so.

Senator Shibli Faraz of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) noted that the country could not have an independent foreign policy until and unless it emerged as an economically independent state. He was of the view that “Pakistan should not mortgage its future by indulging in proxy wars”.

Sehar Kamran of the PPP said the terms of the alliance should be disclosed to the people of the country. “If it suits the interests of Pakistan, why all this is not being shared with parliament.”

Azam Swati of the PTI said that parliament must be informed of the commitments given by Pakistan in the context of its role in the alliance. “The importance of parliament has been reduced to that of the OIC [Organisation of Islamic Cooperation].”

Senator Nasreen Jalil sought to know what would be Pakistan’s position when the alliance was finally activated. “The world is being divided. How will we deal with this debacle?”

She regretted that a “great soldier of Pakistan” had been sent to lead the coalition “without knowing its aims and objectives”.

Rehman Malik of the PPP, Usman Kakar of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, Mir Kabir of the National Party, Shahi Sayed of the Awami National Party and Talha Mehmood of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-F also criticised the government for concealing important information from parliament.

Published in Dawn, December 16th, 2017