ISLAMABAD: Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani on Wednesday disallowed adjournment motion moved by Senator Farhatullah Babar to discuss the dispatch of the Pakistan Army troops to Saudi Arabia bypassing the unanimously adopted parliamentary resolution affirming neutrality in the ongoing military conflict in the region.
He remarked that as the minister for defence has already made a policy statement in the Senate and a number of senators also spoken on the subject and further discussion therefore is disallowed. Pressing his point, Senator Babar said that the ISPR announced the decision last week after a meeting between the army chief and the Saudi ambassador in Islamabad which was preceded by a 3-day visit to Saudi Arabia during which the army chief also met the crown prince and military commanders.
He listed two questions which he said remained un-answered and necessitated further discussion through the adjournment motion. Whether during the recent meeting of the army chief with the crown prince, the Pakistani ambassador in Saudi Arabia present and whether a representative of the Foreign Office was also present in the subsequent meeting between the Saudi ambassador and the army chief in the General Headquarters of the Pakistan Army.
“Even without disclosing the troops’ location what is the guarantee that they will not be deployed along the Saudi-Yemen border in which they can get sucked in the conflict in case hot pursuit became necessary,” the lawmaker asked. He said that several other questions remain unanswered including the nuanced FO statements condemning the Houthi missile attacks as a threat to the kingdom and the holy mosques.
He said that such statement seemed to justify Pakistani troops actively engaging the Yemenis in the conflict on the side of the Saudis. However, the Senate chairman disallowed the adjournment motion.
