Political leaders stutter over UAE official’s statement, Pak’s military’s involvement in Yemen
As Pakistan’s political leadership appeared cautious in commenting over somewhat harsh statements by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) foreign minister, Foreign Office spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said, “Since this is not an official version of the UAE government, rather the statement has been taken from the some social media and the authenticity of the account has also not been confirmed as yet. We will first ascertain what actually has been said and by whom. Later, we can comment.”
However, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Information Secretary Dr Shireen Mazari looked more cautious. “PTI fully supported the consensus resolution adopted by our both houses of the parliament. Since the parliament represents the will of the people of Pakistan, every country must respect the will of the people of Pakistan,” she said.
“All friendly nations must respect the consensus decision of the Parliament which represents the aspirations of the people at large. PTI believes that Pakistan enjoys close ties with the GCC and it would continue to work with them to ensure and protect their sovereignty and territorial integrity. As far as the Yemen crisis is concerned, it is a serious problem which needs to be resolved through diplomatic means. We believe the use of force may not be a useful option and dialogue should be the way forward,” she added.
In the meanwhile, Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Liaqat Baloch said the statement by UAE minister was “disappointing”. “Since the parliament passed a unanimous resolution, the friendly countries must respect it. Moreover, Pakistan would always be there to safeguard the territorial integrity of Saudi Arabia. I wonder why such statement was made,” he maintained.
Moreover, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Minister for Religious Affairs Sardar Mohammad Yousaf said that the parliament had adopted a unanimous resolution to protect Saudi Arabia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
“Any attempt at Saudi Arabia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty would be responded by a strong response from Pakistan,” he said, dodging successive questions about statement of the UAE minister.
Furthermore, Jamaatud Dawa (JUD) chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed said that Pakistan should always stand by Saudi Arabia which had always come forth to support it.
“Whenever we needed financial support or diplomatic assistance, Saudi Arabia came forth without thinking of implications. Moreover, our strategic interests are tied with the Arab world as millions of Pakistani expatriates are employed there and their remittances are a major source of our foreign exchange reserves,” he said, adding that Pakistan should extend its support to Saudi Arabia irrespective of media criticism.
Despite repeated efforts no PPP leader was available for comments.