ZULFIQAR AHMAD

ISLAMABAD: The government informed the Senate on Tuesday in unequivocal terms that Pakistan will withdraw from Saudi Arabia-led military alliance if it is used against any Muslim country as the sole purpose to join the bloc is to eradicate the menace of terrorism from Ummah.

Briefing Senate about the controversy of Pakistan allowing former Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif to head the alliance, Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif made it crystal clear that Pakistan will not become part of any alliance that is going to act against any Muslim country.

The issue echoed in Senate as opposition lawmakers pressed the government to disclose the terms of reference (TORs) finalised with Saudi Arabia before joining the military alliance that does not include Iran and Syria.

Speaking on an adjournment motion and a calling attention notice by Senator Farhatullah Babar of Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) and Mohsin Aziz of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) that were clubbed together, both the senators warned that it would have serious repercussions for Pakistan.

”The government should tell the Parliament about its terms of engagement,” he asked. He also asked: “What will happen to the joint resolution passed by Parliament that says Pakistan will not join any such alliance and the foreign policy is supposed to be framed by the Parliament?”

The defence minister said that the TORs for joining and allowing Gen Raheel Sharif to lead the alliance will be finalised at a meeting scheduled to be held in May, adding then the TORs will be presented before the Parliament.

“The alliance is purely against the menace of terrorism which has been haunting the Muslim world through the backing of US and other western countries to destabilise the Muslim world, for which Pakistan should have to play its due role,” he maintained.

Asif categorically declared that Pakistan would not hesitate to withdraw from the Saudi-led alliance if it feels that it is going to be used against any Muslim country, adding, “will not become part of an alliance which is against Syria, Iran or any other Shia-dominated country.”

“We will play the role of a mediator as Pakistan is the only nuclear power and it is incumbent upon us to maintain brotherly relations with all Muslim countries. We are in touch with Iran as Sartaj Aziz, adviser to the prime minister on foreign affairs, along with secretary defence had recently visited Iran to discuss the issue with them,” he added.

According to defence minister, all the Muslims across the globe agree that protecting the Holy Kaaba is in their blood, and this is the reason Pakistani military has been present in Saudi Arabia since 1982.

“I would like to make it clear that Pakistan will always be there to protect the holy land but it will not become part of any conflict against a Muslim country, which we have made clear to the Saudi Arabia, as Pakistan does not belong to any sect,” he maintained.

About issuing no objection certificate (NOC) to Gen Raheel who will be heading the Saudi-led alliance, he said that he is yet to apply for the NOC, and after following the due process, the Defence Ministry will issue the notification.

“The Defence Ministry issues the notification to those officers who are seeking jobs abroad like we had issued NOC to Lt. Gen Pasha former head of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), as he is working as an adviser for the UAE forces,” he added.

The defence minister said that the government will not violate the joint resolution passed by the Parliament last year that plainly stated that Pakistan will not become part of any alliance.

The chairman Senate directed the minister to present the TORs before the Parliament when it will be finalised in May.

Later the house also witnessed heated arguments between Minister for Housing and Works Akram Khan Durrani and PTI Senator Azam Khan Swati about the recent housing schemes launched by the ministry for government employees.

The PTI senator along with two other MPs remarked that instead of facilitating low-grade government employees, the ministry is fleecing them by selling out 5 marla plots at exorbitant rates, which no one can afford to buy.

The remarks by the senators came as a shock to the minister who in a straightaway said that Azam Swati is the man who defended his policies when he was chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during his two stints as senator and a one-time minister, but it is strange to see him accusing him of corruption.

This prompted Senator Swati to stand up and clarify that he never defended Akram Durrani nor did he ever seek any advice from him.

The chairman Senate also directed to include a letter written to him by KP Chief Minister Pervez Khattak who had requested the Senate to debate the FATA reforms, recently passed by the federal cabinet, in the agenda of the Senate’s Committee of the Whole that is seized with the matter.

The second quarterly report of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) for 2016-17 was also presented in the house.