Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz during a briefing to the National Assembly Foreign Affairs Committee on January 12 stated that matters with Saudi Arabia (SA) have been settled and Pakistan has decided to refrain from deploying troops to SA or any other country. This statement follows SA’s persistent invocations, evident in the flurry of high-profile visits to the country by Saudi officials in the last two weeks, including a visit by Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir and most significantly Saudi Deputy Crown Prince and Minister for Defence Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud, to meet Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif to urge assurances of Pakistan’s support in the ‘additional measures’ against Iran that the Saudi Foreign Minister has stated the Sunni kingdom is considering if the Shia state does not change its existing policies. This antagonism between Iran and SA, which has for long played out as proxy wars between the two in Syria and Yemen, has become more explicit after SA’s execution of the Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, the spiritual leader of the Shia community in SA on charges of sedition. His execution sparked widespread outrage and condemnation from the entire Shia community, and led to protesters ransacking the Saudi embassy in Tehran, in response to which SA cut off diplomatic ties with Iran, and was followed by its Gulf and allies including Bahrain, UAE, Kuwait and Sudan, signalling a growing divide within the region along sectarian lines. SA had also announced a 34-state alliance to combat terrorism, which had excluded Iran. In these meetings with the SA envoys, the PM had reiterated cooperation against the terrorist threat and offered Pakistan’s help in resolving the dispute between the two countries through diplomatic dialogue, and the COAS had placated Prince Mohammad by ensuring support in protecting the kingdom’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Both amount to an equivocally neutral stance. This has now been solidified in Pakistan’s clear refusal to take part in the conflict. Aziz has mentioned that Islamabad will share intelligence with Riyadh to counter terrorism, which reflects Pakistan’s focus on cooperation only on the issue of terrorism. Aziz also elaborated on the country’s plans to defuse the tension growing within the region by mentioning his intention to provide proposals at the emergency meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Jeddah, which many OIC foreign ministers are set to attend.
This non-partisan stance of Pakistan has been rightly appreciated in the National Assembly. So far, through diplomacy, the government has been able to paper over Pakistan’s reluctance to step into the spat between the two countries, has managed to placate SA and avoid any resentment from its neighbour Iran. To justify not committing troops, the government has claimed that it is a long-standing policy of the country to not send troops abroad except for UN peacekeeping missions, stating that it has also twice rejected requests by the US to join alliances against the Islamic State.
In truth, history shows us that Pakistan has several times set aside this policy to come to SA’s aid. When the attack on the Kaba’a took place in 1979 and militants had occupied the holy site, Pakistan’s troops helped winkle them out. Then again during the first Iraq war, Pakistan deployed troops in SA to safeguard its territory while it was fighting in a coalition with the US against Saddam Hussein. In both these cases Pakistan was protecting SA’s territorial integrity, which has been stressed by Pakistan in diplomatic meetings as well. However, this time SA is expecting support for its foreign adventures on a sectarian basis, which has been rightly refused since it would be imprudent, especially at this point in time when more pressing internal threats exist, to embroil the forces in a conflict that has the potential to become a colossal Wahabi-Shia clash affecting the entire region. The government should remain resolute in its current stance and make efforts to settle this dispute through diplomatic reconciliation.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/editorial/14-Jan-2016/pakistan-s-stance
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