Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz told a parliamentary committee that former Army Chief General Raheel Sharif (retd) is commanding the 41-member Saudi-led Islamic Military Alliance in his personal capacity and he cannot be recalled from Saudi Arabia due to possible provocation. The advisor was briefing the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs on the current situation arising out of a grave diplomatic crisis in the Middle East.
Although the session was kept in-camera, the convener of committee Senator Nuzhat Sadiq along with committee members including Shibli Faraz and Karim Khawaja told journalists in an informal chat that the committee recommended that the government should remain neutral in the Qatar-Gulf crisis.
According to Nuzhat Sadiq, the advisor told the panel that the government is not taking sides and is pursuing a policy of neutrality in the current diplomatic row in the Gulf and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has also spoken with Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani via telephone, besides visiting Saudi Arabia recently to defuse tension. Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) representative in the committee Senator Karim Khawaja said the committee wants that Pakistan should avoid taking sides and remain neutral by playing its role as bridge between the Muslim countries to resolve their conflicts peacefully.
He voiced his party's dissatisfaction over government's policies in relation to the Middle East. "It has now become necessary that Raheel Sharif should return to the country voluntarily following reports that Saudi Arabia is asking Pakistan to send its military personnel from a particular sect," he said.
He also went on to say, "If we continue to allow Saudi Arabia to make appointments of its own choice from our bureaucracy and military, tomorrow we cannot stop Iran from doing the same...it would not only create divisions among our armed forces and bureaucracy but will also result in serious damages to our national interests."
Quoting the adviser on foreign affairs as having told the committee, Shibli Faraz, a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) representative in the panel, said that General Raheel Sharif (retd) has accepted to command the Islamic Military Alliance in his personal capacity.
"There could be a possible provocation [from Saudi Arabia's side], if we ask General Raheel Sharif (retd) to return back," Sartaj Aziz was further quoted as having told the panel in response to PPPP's Senator who had called for a voluntary return of the former army chief following the recent development in the Middle East - the recently held Riyadh Summit and the Qatar-Gulf crisis.
The adviser further told the panel that the parliamentary resolution passed by a special joint sitting on Yemen situation in April 2015 to remain neutral in the Middle East conflicts is still a guiding principle for Pakistan's policy for that region. PTI's Senator Shibli Faraz was also of the opinion that calling Raheel Sharif back would not be a wise decision. "We should also keep in view that up to 50 per cent of our foreign exchange reserves depend on the foreign remittances coming from Pakistanis living and working in the Arab countries. Pakistan cannot afford such a huge loss," he further said referring to an obvious blowback if Raheel Sharif is asked to quit his job.