Given the strong ties between Pakistan and the Gulf countries, particularly the UAE and Saudi Arabia, the Pakistani parliament’s unanimous decision to be neutral in the Yemen conflict is disappointing and throws up several important questions. As the UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Dr Anwar Gargash, said, the parliament’s rejection of the opportunity to join the coalition that is restoring order in Yemen was an “unexpected” response.
The Saudi-led coalition is engaged in a battle to restore regional security and stability. It is at times like these that one appreciates the support of friends. The Pakistani parliament’s decision stipulating “neutrality” while expressing “genuine support” for Saudi Arabia is, as Dr Gargash said, “contradictory”.
It requires explanation. Surely there must be more to this decision than the Pakistani army’s case that it is overstretched because of a counterterrorism campaign against the Pakistani Taliban and tensions with India.
So the question must be why did the Pakistani parliament unanimously pass such a resolution? It came the day after Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, visited Islamabad for talks on Yemen.
He met both prime minister Nawaz Sharif and chief of army staff Raheel Sharif. This was, clearly, a crucial meeting at a critical time. What was said during Mr Zarif’s visit? The Gulf countries deserve an answer.
The Pakistani parliament’s resolution was unwise, and certainly not in its interests, and hurts the brotherly bonds with the Gulf states. Shared ties have always been based on the sense of common values.
The sense of hurt is all the deeper when the close relationship with Islamabad goes back so many decades. The Saudis have long been large-hearted friends to Pakistan but this is not about payback. It is about doing the right thing at the right time and in the right way.
Perhaps Pakistan’s lawmakers will reconsider their position in line with the Saudis’ stoic and measured view that the parliamentary vote may not be the end of the matter.