No army brigade sent to Saudi Arabia: Khawaja Asif

ISLAMABAD: Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Wednesday categorically rejected reports regarding the deployment of Pakistani army personnel to Saudi Arabia to assist the kingdom in its ongoing war with ongoing Saudi-Yemen conflict.

“No military personnel have been sent to Saudi Arabia in perspective of the Saudi Arabia-Yemen conflict,” said the minister.

He was speaking on the floor of the National Assembly in response to a point of order raised by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) MNA Shafqat Mahmood.

Mahmood was referring to some reports and posts on the social media which suggested that a Pakistan Army brigade was sent to Saudi Arabia.

Asif said, “It is our policy not to get involved in Saudi Arabia-Yemen conflict. If any decision had to be taken, it will flow through the parliament.”

As discussed in this house and approved, he stressed, “It would be our endeavour that our role is not partisan rather we would play a conciliatory role”.

According to the federal minister, under a 1982 agreement between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, just above 1,000 Pakistanis including technicians, doctors and engineers have been living in the country for many years.

“The decision of this house [National Assembly] is like an order for the government that Pakistan will not get involved Saudi Arabia-Yemen conflict,” Asif maintained.

Saudi Arabia and its mostly Gulf Arab allies intervened in Yemen’s civil war in March 2015 after Houthi rebels deposed the Hadi administration, which went into exile in Saudi Arabia.

The coalition has since launched thousands of air attacks on the Houthis and their allies in Yemen’s army but paused the strikes on Sanaa in March after reaching an informal agreement with the Houthis to cool combat on the Yemeni-Saudi border.