Islamabad: Pakistan is “not in a hurry” to decide whether to join the Saudi-led coalition against rebels in Yemen, the prime minister said Tuesday, before a round of shuttle diplomacy involving Iran and Turkey.

Nawaz Sharif told a special parliamentary debate on Yemen he thought the diplomatic efforts planned for the coming days would yield results.

Saudi Arabia has asked its longstanding ally Pakistan to contribute planes, ships and ground troops to the operation against Al Houthi rebels in Yemen.

But Pakistan has resisted so far, calling for a diplomatic solution and saying it does not want to take part in any conflict that would worsen sectarian divisions in the Muslim world.

Sharif has said any Pakistani participation would need the backing of parliament and convened a special session to debate the matter.

He told lawmakers on Tuesday that he did not want to “manipulate you to get a mandate”.

“Take your time, we are not in a hurry, we will take all your good points and I want the parliament also to say something about demands of our friends,” said Sharif.

Sharif met his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu in Ankara on Friday and said afterwards both countries wanted a peaceful resolution to the Yemen crisis. He also called for a tripartite diplomatic initiative involving his country, Turkey and Iran, to stop the war.

More talks involving Turkey, Iran and Pakistan are planned in the coming days.

In Tehran, Iranian president Hassan Rouhani said in a joint press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that both countries wanted the air strikes to halt.

Sharif told parliament he expected these diplomatic efforts quickly to bear fruit.

“We are actually waiting for an answer, which I expect will arrive by tomorrow,” Sharif said, adding that Turkey may send its foreign minister or convey the message by phone.

“We will see what we can do after that. We might visit other Muslim countries together.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is due in Oman on Wednesday to discuss the situation, followed by a trip to Islamabad.