Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will leave for Turkey today (Friday) as part of Pakistan's diplomatic venture for exchanging views with the Turkish leadership for bringing a peaceful resolution to the Yemen conflict.
According to Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam, the visit of the Prime Minister to Turkey was agreed during his telephonic conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday. "Given the excellent relations between Pakistan and Turkey and the personal rapport between the leadership of the two countries, the Prime Minister and the President of Turkey will exchange views on the situation related to Yemen," she said, adding they will also discuss how the two countries can help in addressing the issue.
In her weekly press briefing, the spokesperson referred to the high-level meeting on Friday in which it was decided that the joint session of the parliament would discuss the Yemen situation. She said that any decision about sending troops to Saudi Arabia would be taken by the parliament according to peoples' aspirations and national interest. "The aspirations of the people of Pakistan will be articulated when their representatives meet on Monday in Parliament," she added.
The spokesperson said that consultations are under way and Pakistan's concerned authorities will stay engaged with the Saudi authorities. She said that Pakistan has called upon the warring groups in Yemen to move towards dialogue, besides reiterating its commitment to protect the territorial integrity of Saudi Arabia. She said Pakistan condemns all non-state actors for seeking to overthrowing a legitimate government of Yemen.
Giving updates about the on-going operation to bring stranded Pakistanis back home, she said that 186 stranded Pakistanis embarked to Djibouti through Chinese ship earlier Friday and they will be brought back to Pakistan through special flight of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).
She said Pakistan's Embassy in Ethiopia will take care of the immigration, transit, transport, and other necessary arrangements of these Pakistanis.
The spokesperson said in Al-Mukallah, Pakistan's ship has already arrived. However, due to overnight skirmishes evacuation of 175 Pakistanis already present on the port could not be started. She said as soon as they are cleared by the military authorities of the port, these stranded Pakistanis would be directly brought back to Karachi.
About Yemeni capital Sana'a, she said around 155 Pakistanis have assembled there and are in constant contact of Foreign Office's crisis management cell.
To a question, the spokesperson described the media reports as rumours and false that some Pakistanis stranded in Yemen were killed, saying that as per the information obtained from the community all Pakistanis were safe so far.
About the mission in Sana'a, she said that the embassy was closed temporarily but we will continue to assess the situation and decide when we will reopen our mission in Yemen.
To another question regarding Pakistan's support to Saudi Arabia, she said not a single political party of the country is of the opinion that protection of Saudi Arabia or holy places is not Pakistan's responsibility. To another query that Pakistan's Ambassador in Iran has been called by the Iranian Foreign Office to express concern over Pakistan's position on Yemen, she said that Pakistan's Ambassador in Tehran probably visits the Iranian Foreign Ministry two or three times a week. "We discuss bilateral relations, regional situation and other issues of mutual interest," she said.
Similarly, Iranian Ambassador in Pakistan also frequently stays in touch with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and these are regular bilateral engagements, she said.
The spokesperson also rejected the impression that its commitment of providing security to Saudi territorial integrity was not a message targeted towards Iran.
"No, the message is not targeted towards Iran. How Iran does come into it? This is not our assessment. The situation in Yemen is complicated and it has a history," she added.
To a question about Iran-US nuclear talks, the spokesperson said that Pakistan's position on the dialogue has been very clear and consistent from the beginning.
"We called for a resolution of the issue through a dialogue long before the talks actually started. It is our earnest desire that this dialogue would be concluded successfully," she said, adding intensive discussions that are taking place right now give us hope that there would be some positive outcome.
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