Pakistan at Saudi beck and call on Yemen

PM assures King Salman of Pakistan’s unwavering support to Saudi Arabia, welcomes proposals for peace and stability in region

The Yemen imbroglio was on menu as Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Saudi King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz held a luncheon meeting at the Royal Palace in Riyadh on Thursday.

During the meeting, Prime Minister Sharif assured Pakistan’s full support to the Saudi leadership in the prevailing Yemen crisis. He also told the Saudi leadership about the measures Pakistan had taken to implement the United Nations Security Council resolution on Yemen. Sharif also welcomed shared proposals for peace and stability in the region.

Later, delegation-level talks between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia were also held at the palace.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif led talks from the Pakistani side, while the Saudi delegation was headed by King Salman bin Abdul Aziz. Later, Sharif also held a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Muqrin bin Abdul Aziz and Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad bin Naif at the Royal Palace.

A senior government official told Pakistan Today that the high-level visit to Saudi Arabia in which Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif was also participating would decide the country’s relationship with the Kingdom for the next five years.

“It will be an uphill task for the visiting civil and military leadership to convince Saudis on Pakistan’s point of view of committing troops for Yemen,” the source added, asking not to be named.

Earlier, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, along with his delegation, arrived in Riyadh on a daylong visit. The Pakistani delegation was accorded a warm welcome by Saudi Defence Minister Prince Mohammad bin Salman at Riyadh air base.

Prime Minister Sharif also held a consultative meeting with his close civil and military aides on the Yemen situation in his special jet.

A source privy to preparations for the trip said that the purpose of a joint visit by the civil and military leadership was to reassure the Saudis that Pakistan remained fully committed to Saudi Arabian security.

The trip is aimed at limiting the damage caused by Islamabad’s wavering over the issue of committing troops for the Saudi-led offensive against Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

The visit is taking place at a time when Saudi Arabia announced an end to the Operation Decisive Storm in a move towards the start of the political dialogue for settlement of the dispute. Pakistan has welcomed the halting of air strikes by Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia had expected Pakistan’s active involvement in the military coalition. The government first referred the matter to a joint sitting of the parliament, which after five days of debate came up with a call for neutrality.

The parliamentary resolution provoked strong reaction across the Arab world and the prime minister had to personally issue a statement reassuring the Arabs that his government continued to stand by their side and later dispatched his brother Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif as a special envoy to clear the misgivings and pledge assistance for enforcing the UN Security Council’s arms embargo on Houthi rebels and forces loyal to Ali Abdullah Saleh.

But that was not enough to pacify the annoyed royal Saudi family.

The combined visit by PM Sharif and Gen Sharif, a Pakistani diplomat said, would carry a lot of symbolism as well.

“The Saudis are particularly perturbed over not physically seeing Pakistanis on their side. This visit will address that perception and convey to the regional actors in the clearest terms that Pakistan stands by Saudi Arabia,” he added.

The two sides, a source from Riyadh said, could come up with an arrangement that could serve as a consolation for not joining the military coalition when the Operation Decisive Storm had been started.

The government official insisted that whatever is agreed in Riyadh would be in conformity with the parliamentary resolution – which has a lot of room for interpretation.