KARACHI: Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said on Tuesday that the 39-nation military alliance, put together by Saudi Arabia and to be led by Pakistan’s former army chief Gen Raheel Sharif, would not interfere in the ongoing conflict in Yemen.

Recently, the Iranian envoy to Pakistan expressed reservations over the federal government decision to allow Gen Raheel to head the Saudi-led military alliance.

In an attempt to allay Iran’s concern, the defence minister said Pakistan was ready to talk to the neighbouring country if it had any reservation over the appointment of a former Pakistani chief of army staff as the head of the military alliance.

“When Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif visited Saudi Arabia officially, the Saudis expressed their wish that they want to appoint General Raheel [as the head] of this alliance,” he said in an interview with Samaa television. “When General Raheel went [Saudi Arab] to perform umrah he was personally approached [by Saudis]. Now he is part of that alliance and would be paid by them. And let me tell you...neither that alliance nor Pakistan has anything to interfere in the Yemen conflict.”

Recalling historic ties between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, he said that the country had always offered its service for the protection of Harmain Sharifain.

“Our 1,200 soldiers are already in Saudi Arabia. We offer training to their army, their officers and soldiers. We have decades-old strong ties with that country. But at the same time we are also ready to talk to Iran if they have any reservation over General Raheel’s appointment,” he said.

He said it was in Pakistan’s own interest to invest in the defence of Arab states as several other countries were also showing interest in assisting them.

About the appointment of the incumbent COAS Gen Qamar Bajwa and retirement of General Raheel, the defence minister said some people within the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz were in favour of giving an extension to the former army chief.

“But Nawaz Sharif was against that,” he said. “He had said it should not be done. He believes in the supremacy of institutions and he didn’t want any extension.”

He said he did not know much about the agenda of a recent meeting between Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan and Gen Bajwa.

“But I know that Imran Khan had sent a request to see him [COAS] for long. We don’t have a tradition to keep record of such meetings but I think there should be a proper mechanism to maintain such a record,” he added.

Published in Dawn, April 5th, 2017