WASHINGTON:
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar stated that Pakistan’s position on the Yemen conflict will not lead to the expulsion of Pakistani workers from the Middle East, according to local media sources.
During a news briefing in Washington, Dar stated that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia had signed a military protocol in 1982, which entitles the kingdom to seek Pakistani troops when there is a need.
“But this agreement was for a different purpose and it is not in national interests to talk about it,” he said.
“God forbid, we do not want to create the impression that we are not with Saudi Arabia. I am a sinner but I am willing to die defending the two holy mosques.”
Mr Dar, who was addressing the Pakistani media at the end of a three-day visit to Washington, was drawn into the Yemen dispute while vowing to take the country’s foreign exchange reserves to a record $18.5 billion by the end of this fiscal year, according to sources.