ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said on Monday that Pakistan considers Saudi Arabia as one of most important strategic allies. Prime Minister issued a policy statement to clarify Pakistan's position on different dimensions of the Yemen crisis, while regretting many media comments in Pakistan and abroad particularly after the resolution passed by the Parliament.
"I think it is necessary to clarify Pakistan's position on different dimensions of the crisis as Pakistan's policy is based on the principles of importance of Saudi Arabia as one of our most important strategic allies; (ii) the sanctity of the two Holy Mosques and full support to their Custodian; (iii) Pakistan's long term commitment to Saudi sovereignty, territorial integrity and stability, which has been the main pillar of our foreign policy pursued by successive governments;(iv) Pakistan's firm assurance to Saudi brothers that we would stand shoulder to shoulder with them;(v) strong condemnation of actions by the Houthis and other non-state actors to overthrow the legitimate government of Yemen and serious concern at the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation as well as the urgency of finding a peaceful solution of the crisis through dialogue among the warring factions.
Nawaz Sharif added that the resolution passed by the Parliament fully endorses these principles and strengthens the hands of the government for playing a positive and constructive role.
The resolution has affirmed, in clear and categorical terms, that any violation of the Saudi territorial sovereignty or threat to the two Holy Mosques will evoke a strong response from Pakistan. This assurance has been given despite the massive commitment of our armed forces in the on-going Operation Zarb-e-Azb, in which hundreds of our brave soldiers and security personnel have laid down their lives.
He added that Pakistan has already intensified contacts with Saudi Arabia to monitor the ground situation and possible threats to the security and territorial integrity of the Kingdom. Pakistan believes that the restoration of President Hadi's government will be an important step forward towards establishing peace in Yemen. The Prime Minister also conveyed to the Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif during his visit to Pakistan that the violent overthrow of the legitimate government in Yemen by the Houthis had set a dangerous precedent that was fraught with serious risks for the entire region. "I also urged him to use Iran's influence to bring the Houthis to the negotiating table," he added.
Pakistan is in touch with other GCC countries to assure them that their disappointment was based on an apparent misinterpretation of Parliament's resolution. Pakistan does not abandon friends and strategic partners, especially at a time when their security is under threat. "My government continues to follow the policy of fortifying and strengthening the bonds of friendship with the Gulf countries. There should be no doubt about our policy of solidarity with the GCC States," added Sharif.
He said that some media reports are speculative and tend to create misunderstanding between Pakistan and its Arab brothers. "We have not responded to these speculations because we believe that public comments would be counter-productive. Pakistan will intensify its diplomatic efforts in the coming days, in consultation with the leadership of Saudi Arabia, to resolve the crisis," he concluded.
Reuters adds: Iran on Monday urged the formation of a new Yemeni government and offered to assist in a political transition, comments likely to anger Saudi Arabia, which is backing Yemen's president against a rebel force allied with Iran.
The Houthi advance towards the Yemeni city of Aden forced President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to flee to Riyadh last month and triggered a Saudi-led campaign of air strikes to try to drive back the rebels, who share their Shia faith with Iran.
"I had the privilege of participating in the Bonn Conference when we created the Afghan government. Actually we didn't do it, the Afghans did ... We can do that in Yemen too," Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a speech during a two-day visit to Kazakhstan.
The Bonn Conference was held in 2001 to rebuild the Afghan state after its Taliban rulers were ousted in a U.S. invasion supported by allied Afghan forces, and resulted in an entirely new political system for Afghanistan.
Zarif's suggestion of a similar process for Yemen is likely to be seen by Saudi Arabia as an attempt to extend Iran's influence on the Arabian Peninsula, where a Saudi-led coalition of Sunni-ruled Arab states is trying to shore up support for Hadi.
The rivalry for influence between Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia and Shia Iran in countries such as Yemen, Iraq and Syria has fuelled sectarian instability in the Middle East since the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011.
In an opinion piece in the New York Times, Hadi said Iran was "obsessed with regional domination" and the Houthis were its "puppets".
Tehran does not recognise Hadi as Yemen's president but says it has not given military support to the Houthis, who have long complained of exclusion from power in Yemen and seized the capital Sanaa in September.
As street fighting raged in Aden on Monday, 40 Houthi fighters surrendered to local militiamen in a mosque, residents said.
In another move likely to strain ties with Riyadh, Iran has suspended the year-round Islamic pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, the Umrah, over allegations that Saudi security officers sexually assaulted two Iranian teenage boys at Jeddah airport, the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA) reported. "Until these guilty people are put on trial and punished, the Umrah will be stopped and Iranian flights will be suspended," ISNA cited Culture Minister Ali Jannati as saying. Several hundred protesters marched on the Saudi embassy in Tehran on Saturday, despite a ban on public demonstrations.
The boys were returning to Tehran from the Umrah, a pilgrimage to Makkah that can be undertaken at any time of the year outside the annual Haj.
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