Dubai: Pakistan’s parliament has rebuffed a Saudi request for military participation in its offensive against Yemeni rebels, delivering a blow to Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

The parliament unanimously passed a resolution affirming its neutrality in the Yemeni conflict, but expressed “unequivocal” support for Saudi Arabia and pledged to defend the kingdom in case of any violation of its territorial integrity or threat to holy sites of Makkah and Medina.

“There is a message to Al Houthis too,” said a senior Pakistani official. “If they go across the border into Saudi Arabia, we will certainly be there in support of the Saudis,” he told the Financial Times.

UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr Anwar Mohammad Gargash said on Twitter that  the Pakistani parliament’s rejection of intervention in Yemen is “unexpected from Islamabad”.

 

The Pakistani parliament’s decision that stipulates “neutrality in the Yemeni conflict” and expresses “its genuine support for Saudi Arabia” is “contradictory and unexpected from Islamabad.

  “The Arabian Gulf is in a dangerous and fateful confrontation and its strategic security is at stake. Moments like these distinguish real allies from those of media statements.”

“Pakistan must have a clear stance for the sake of its strategic relations with the Gulf states. Positions that are contradictory in such fateful issues have a high cost,” Gargash added.

Saudi Arabia had requested troops, ships and aircraft support for the operation that aims to restore Yemeni president Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who fled the country in the face of advances by the Al Houthis and their ally, former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The Pakistani resolution came a day after Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif visited Islamabad for talks on Yemen.

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Dr Anwar Mohammad Gargash. Image Credit: Ravindranath/Gulf News
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Dr Anwar Mohammad Gargash Image Credit: WAM
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