Pakistan announces decision to send its troops to Saudi Arabia amid ongoing civil war in Yemen

Islamabad: In a major policy shift, Pakistan has decided to deploy troops in Saudi Arabia under bilateral security cooperation with the kingdom which is involved in the ongoing civil war in neighbouring Yemen. [caption id=“attachment_4354571” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] The Pakistan Army announced the decision after a meeting between Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and Saudi ambassador to Pakistan Nawaf Saeed Al-Maliki, at army headquarters in Rawalpindi on Friday. “In continuation of ongoing Pakistan-Saudi Arabia bilateral security cooperation, a Pakistan Army contingent is being sent to Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) on training and advise mission. These or troops already there will not be employed outside KSA,” the army said. It also said the army “maintains bilateral security cooperation with many other Gulf/regional countries”. Already around 1,000 Pakistani troops are deployed in Saudi Arabia in various advisory and training roles, according to officials There was no official word on the number of additional troops being sent to kingdom but the Dawn newspaper quoted “multiple sources” hinting that it might be the size of a composite brigade. Saudi Arabia has been pushing Pakistan to provide troops since 2015 when it joined Yemens civil war but Pakistan steadily refused, saying it would not become party to any regional conflict. The war in Yemen stalemated and the situation has aggravated with the rebels firing missiles at regular intervals towards the kingdom. Pakistan is treading a fine line in maintaining relations with Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, Qatar and other regional players and the decision of deploying troops may annoy Saudi Arabias rivals like Iran and Qatar. Bajwa has been playing a major role in addressing concerns of regional countries and met with ambassadors of Iran and Turkey earlier this week. He also recently visited Qatar and met its emir. The decision may also create tension in Pakistans internal politics as parliament had passed a resolution at the start of the Yemen crisis that said Pakistan would stay neutral in the conflict.