Pakistan parliament resumes debate on joining Saudi-led Yemen operation

First Post ^ | 04/07/2015

[SeekAndFind]

Pakistan's parliament resumed debate on Tuesday on whether the country should get involved in a Saudi-led campaign in Yemen, a day after the defence minister revealed Saudi wanted Pakistani warplanes, warships and soldiers.

Saudi Arabia, the Gulf's main Sunni Muslim power, has asked Sunni-majority Pakistan to join a Saudi-led military coalition that began conducting air strikes last month against largely Shi'ite Houthi forces in Yemen.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has hedged his bets. He has repeatedly said he will defend any threat to Saudi Arabia's "territorial integrity" without defining what threat that could be, or what action he would take.

Joining the Saudi-led coalition could inflame a sectarian conflict at home where about a fifth of the population is Shi'ite and attacks on Shi'ites are increasing, further destabilising the nuclear-armed nation of 180 million people.

Pakistani intervention would probably also anger Shi'ite power Iran, which shares a long and porous border in a region roiling with its own separatist insurgency.

The Iranian foreign minister visits Pakistan on Wednesday.

[boycott]

No need for that. Obama promised the Yemeni government support.

I sure he’ll stand with them just like he has promised to stand with Israel.

[BeauBo]

Egypt seems to be on board, which is big.

Turkey may be covertly working a Northern front against the Iranian-backed Assad Regime in Syria - activity has recently stepped up there with the capture of Idlib. They don’t seem willing to openly get into it directly with Iran, using surrogates against Iranian surrogates.

If Pakistan is drawn into conflict with Iran, it could be the biggest of all - a real strategic shift.

Pakistan has a long history of providing a Brigade to a Division for duty in Saudi Arabia, for their internal defense, but not to cross the border outside the Kingdom. If they were just planning to do more of the same, it would not be necessary to get into a big debate in Parliament.