Pakistan to defend Saudi Arabia

ISLAMABAD: The civil and military leadership of Pakistan has decided to act proactively to ward off any threat to the solidarity and integrity of Saudi Arabia and exploit all its resources to protect the brotherly country from any external threat to its security.
A high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at the PM House on Thursday evening took stock of the overall situation in the Middle East with special reference to the developments in Yemen where an internal incursion had threatened the government and ousted its head from the capital.
Sources told The News that Saudi Arabia was spearheading the campaign against the insurgents in Yemen and it had appealed and approached its traditional allies, including Pakistan, to move forward and help in halting the incursion. Five countries including Pakistan and Egypt have formally been requested to provide assistance to the Saudi forces in the action. Egypt and Pakistan have both asked their navies to move towards the Yemen coast to defend the Saudi Arabian maritime frontiers to stop any incursion.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said that Pakistan enjoyed close and brotherly relations with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and attached great importance to their security.
Addressing the meeting, Nawaz Sharif said that Pakistan would not hesitate to provide whatever help the Saudi government would seek to deal with the situation.
Earlier, the Foreign Office had sought a detailed report on the situation in the region from its missions and the reports were placed before the high-level meeting. The meeting concluded that any threat to Saudi Arabia’s territorial integrity would evoke a strong response from Pakistan.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif asked Minister for Defence Khawaja Muhammad Asif and Adviser to the PM on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz to dash to Riyadh today (Friday) to ascertain the requirements of the brotherly country and make an assessment of the situation. They will have detailed meetings with the royal administration of the Kingdom. Senior representatives from the armed forces would also accompany the delegation.
The meeting was attended by Minister for Defence Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Adviser to the PM on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif, Chief of Air Staff (CAS) Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman, DG ISI Lieutenant General Rizwan Akhtar Malik, Secretary to the PM Javaid Aslam and other senior officials.
The personnel of Pakistan’s diplomatic mission in Yemen have moved to a safer place but the government has not shut down its mission in Sana’a since about one hundred thousand Pakistani immigrants are living there.It is pertinent to mention here that some Pakistani troops are already present in Saudi Arabia and they are staying there to impart training to military officers.