ISLAMABAD: Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz told the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs that former chief of army staff general Raheel Sharif (r) had taken command of the 41-nation Saudi-led military coalition in his personal capacity on Wednesday.
The adviser was briefing the committee on the on-going diplomatic rift in the Middle East that began after Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Yemen and the Maldives severed their ties with Qatar.
During the committee’s session, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Kareem Khawaja had voiced his dissatisfaction with Pakistan’s role in the Gulf crisis and added that the former army chief should be asked to return to Pakistan voluntarily.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senator Shibli Faraz pointed out that if Sharif was asked to return back to Pakistan, relations with Saudi Arabia would be negatively affected Aziz told the committee that Raheel Sharif was not sent by the government to lead the alliance and therefore, cannot be asked to return.
He added that the resolution adopted by Parliament on the Yemen conflict will serve as the foundation for the role Pakistan will adopt in the current Gulf crisis. He said that Pakistan will maintain the position of neutrality in the deepening Gulf crisis and will refrain from interfering in the affairs of other countries.
Committee Chairperson Nuzhat Sadiq said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had not only met with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud as part of his meditational efforts in the Gulf, but also spoke with Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani on the phone regarding a resolution to the rift.
According to members of the committee, who spoke after the briefing, Aziz told the senators that Pakistan has set a neutral policy in the recent rift between Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Sartaj Aziz has said Pakistan will not take any sides in the recent stand-off between Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
He said that “Pakistan doesn’t want to interfere in other countries matters and will stick to its non-partisan policy on the Middle East issue.”
