ISLAMABAD (Staff Report) – Pakistan has agreed to help Saudi-led coalition forces to enforce an arms embargo against Houthi rebels in Yemen and is expected to deploy several navy ships near to the Yemeni coastal line, claimed an United States based think tank.
Pakistan army, according to the organization, is reluctant to send in the ground troops to Yemen to join Saudi forces and Chief of the Army Staff General Raheel Sharif in a recent briefing to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif linked it to ‘unavailability of troops’. General is also expected fly to Riyadh to hold dialogue with Royal leaders in this regard following a Pakistani delegation led by Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif.
COAS is reluctant to conduct joint military exercises in Saudi Arabia as well but the recent visits of Pakistani delegations hint at government’s inclination to Royal pressure.
McClathyDC believes that Pakistan’s naval contribution to the arms embargo against Houthi rebels in Yemen is an easy option, because two warships already are deployed in Indian Ocean waters near Yemen as part of multinational task forces patrolling the area to interdict al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula militants and pirates based in the Horn of Africa. But Pakistani forces are of the opinion to avoid any further involvement as it will further deepen the sectarian division in Pakistan
Earlier Pakistan’s Parliament voted unanimously to remain neutral in the Yemen conflict. But the resolution gave the government leeway by authorizing it to commit forces in the event Saudi Arabia’s territory came under threat. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif also vowed to utilize every option to protect Royal territory.
