International
Pakistan to deploy its army in Saudi Arabia on ‘training and advisory mission’
A Pakistan army contingent will be stationed in Saudi Arabia on a “training and advisory mission”, a press release from Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Thursday.
The announcement followed a meeting between Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador, Nawaf Saeed Al-Maliki, and Pakistan Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa earlier today at General Headquarters Rawalpindi, reported Pakistan based Dawn News.
During their meeting, Gen Bajwa and Al-Maliki discussed matters of “mutual interest”, including the regional security situation, the ISPR press statement said.
The contingent will join Pakistani troops that are already stationed in Saudi Arabia and “will not be deployed outside the Kingdom”, the statement read.
Gen Bajwa had earlier this month quietly visited Saudi Arabia, where he stayed for nearly three days and his only known meetings were with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Commander of Ground Forces Lt Gen Prince Fahd bin Turki bin Abdulaziz. This was his second visit to the kingdom in two months.
Saudi Arabia has been demanding deployment of Pakistani troops since the start of the Yemen conflict in 2015, but Pakistan has been struggling to evade the demand despite a unanimously adopted parliamentary resolution affirming the country’s “neutrality” in the conflict.
On Friday, senator Farhatullah Babar, a senior leader of the opposition Pakistan People’s Party, objected to the planned deployment and described the development as “tantamount to bypassing the Parliament”.
Drawing the attention of the House to the matter, Babar said the deployment was an issue of public importance. He said he had given an adjournment notice to discuss the issue.
There are already about 750-800 Pakistani servicemen in Saudi Arabia, in part to guard Islamic holy sites, but they are not combat troops.
