What is the government planning for the Saudi alliance?
Gen (rtd) Raheel Sharif’s decision to head the Saudi-led military alliance has raised questions, all the more so because the decision seems to have been taken after consultations with the government. Why did the government agree to the arrangement when it knows that those who formed the military alliance had deliberately kept countries like Iran, Iraq and Syria out of it? The organisation the former COAS would be leading is controversial and does not enjoy the full support of the Muslim world. The main activity so far undertaken by the alliance is to attack Yemen, another Muslim country, where it is mired for the last over a year and a half. How could the government forget that the National Assembly had refused to be associated with the misadventure? The decision has had a divisive impact with the banned outfit Ahle-Sunnat-Wal-Jamaat enthusiastically supporting it and the Shia Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen expressing concern over it.
The decision by a former COAS to seek a lucrative job in an organisation controlled by a foreign country with a particular communal leaning sets a bad precedent. It could create a tilt for a particular country among those who play an important role in making the country’s foreign policy. It could lead to national interest becoming subservient to personal pursuits. An Urdu newspaper reported soon after the decision that the former COAS would return soon to recruit two to three retired Lt Generals, several retired Brigadiers and other officers for a new command being envisaged by the Saudi-led military coalition. Hopefully the report, which has yet to be denied, is a fabrication of the reporter’s mind. But it points to the dangers that lie ahead.
According to the Defence Minister the matter was in the pipeline for quite some time and the prime minister was also part of the deliberations. The remark will not send a reassuring message to Iran. Pakistan must discourage any move which creates a perception of being partial in the Gulf rivalries
Is Pakistan prepared to lose the Saudi job market that is a lifeline for hundreds of thousands of jobless Pakistanis? Beggars cannot be choosers. We must comply with Saudi edicts.
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