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A SEEMINGLY settled debate has been reopened in a surprising manner.
In April 2015, a historic joint session of parliament debated Saudi Arabia’s request for Pakistani troops to be sent to Yemen to fight on behalf of the Saudi side of the conflict there. Courageously, the Pakistani parliament passed a joint resolution that emphasised the need for Pakistan to maintain neutrality in the Yemen conflict, not be drawn into regional conflicts and act only if the territorial sovereignty of Saudi Arabia or the holy sites in that country come under attack.
Read: Don’t dare mention Yemen
It was a brave and principled decision. But in the months and years since that historic resolution, it has become clear that Saudi Arabia continues to lean on Pakistan to align itself more fully with the kingdom’s ambitions under the de facto leadership of Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.
Now, the Pakistan Army has suddenly announced that an unspecified number of troops are to be sent to Saudi Arabia for a so-called train-and-advise mission. The brief ISPR statement has sparked concern that a secretive decision-making process is being used to override a public declaration by parliament.
Inside parliament, there is justifiable anger at the sudden announcement to send a fresh, unspecified contingent of troops to Saudi Arabia, even as the ISPR has insisted that Pakistani troops will not be deployed outside that country. The defence minister has been summoned by the Senate, while the National Assembly has asked the Foreign Office to explain why Pakistani troops are being sent to Saudi Arabia and on what terms.
The federal government and the military leadership must address parliament’s concerns forthrightly and quickly. If not, the potential for misinformation, especially when Pakistani troops are stationed abroad in a region rife with conflict, is significant. Pakistan’s ties with Saudi Arabia are important to this country and where greater cooperation is possible, and in the interest of both countries, it should be pursued. But all of Saudi Arabia’s national goals are not necessarily aligned with Pakistan’s interests.
A Pakistani entanglement in the Saudi-led war in Yemen or military participation in the Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition, which has positioned itself as an anti-Iran alliance, are surely not in the national interest of Pakistan. The latter shares a border with Iran and has mostly had cordial ties with it. Similarly, when it comes to the Saudi-led GCC pressure on Qatar, it is in Pakistan’s interest to maintain balanced ties with the countries involved.
Perhaps there are justifiable and limited reasons for sending a military mission to Saudi Arabia to assist and advise. The ISPR’s assertion that the decision is based on considerations of bilateral security cooperation suggests that neither the IMCTC nor the Yemen conflict is directly involved. But then a frank and open debate should have been held in parliament. Secrecy gives rise to conspiracy theories and speculation.
Published in Dawn, February 18th, 2018
Comments (26) Closed
There is no mystery but there is no place say truth.
Its always been clear that the buck stops with the GHQ. The parliament is delusional and thinks it can make policies. Now they should know better. The more things change in pakistan, the more they remain the same.
Nothing surprise.. Everybody knows that military is above parliment. What is the fun in summoning defence minister? If anybody assumes that our armed force is reporting to defence minister, it is a cruel joke...
It is difficult when all the key institutions (elected govt, armed forces and now judiciary) lack credibility. It is chaos all around and nobody knows who is incharge.
From my view, there is neither a concern nor anger. This is the RIGHT decision. Media shall be impartial.
This would be discreet to get approval of the parliament, supporting friendly nations is part of our diplomacy...
Yes. Yes. Why not?
I have been pointing this out since day one.
What anger?
Such subservient thinking should change with time.
Pakistan general is majestic in comparison. Pakistan Zindabad
The world's biggest mafia has decided to earn some money from the Saudis. Given that Americans have been a bit difficult recently the mafia had no other option, knowing that the iron brother does not give anything for free....
Big mistake
99.99% pakistani are not happy with this decision.
Why you guy wasting money on holding elections......
Billions are spent on elections. For what?
It is unfortunate for Pakistan to get sucked in Middle East's complex wars among Muslims. This step to send troops for training and assistance is practically involving in a Middle East's complicated wars killing innocent Muslims.
It is shameful, for few riyals we dont care what we will get in return. Our COAS says that we are cutting crops of 1990s but ignoring what we are currently doing, its means that our generations will cut that crop which we are planting. This so called train & advise means , train how to get target in Yemen and train how to infiltrate. No one can accept it.
@citizen Once you have a functional parliament and parliamentarians who know what they are elected to serve the state and the people of Pakistan , The power will rest in the parliament. .
@A KHAN oh really?
Most important, please keep Pakistan away from any conflict any where.
Funny how recently COAS visited the Parliament and announced that the military will follow parliamentary policy. Now, they are stepping on toes.
Parliamentarians in Pakistan should not be surprised. They know their military always has the way. To hoodwink people you can have another fake debate and agree with military.
Money talks, military call the shots, politicians confuse the public loot the coffers. Raheel set this deal up for his employers and pension.
@A KHAN why not!
Saudis obviously have problems. Training or not, we should help them out where possible.
File a petition in Supreme Court to block the unconstitutional deployment