Allowing Gen. Sharif to head Saudi alliance, against parl. resolution: Pak diplomat

In an interview with IRNA, Ashraf Jehangir Qazi termed the development as a very unwise step adding that it is contradictory to the previous stance of Pakistan on Yemen war.

In April 2015, after an extraordinary weeklong debate, Pak parliament had unanimously approved a resolution urging the government to stay neutral in the face of demands from Riyadh to join its military strike against Yemen.

Ashraf Jehangir Qazi has been former Pakistan's ambassador to the United States, Syria, China, Russia, India, and East Germany. He was also UN special representative in Iraq and Sudan.

He added that the resolution passed by the parliament in 2015 clearly states that Pakistan must not take sides in quarrels between Muslim brothers.

“This force (Saudi-led military alliance) which is supposed to be established, I don’t know whether it has yet been established or not but commander has been appointed before the force seems to have even come into existence but nonetheless, this force excludes somehow our Muslim brothers including, Iran, Syria, Yemen and a few other countries, so it can be seen negatively by some of our brothers and Pakistan should avoid taking such measures,” he viewed.

The diplomat went on to say that when the Saudi request came with respect to crisis in Yemen, at that time our civilian and military leaders did go to Iran and even consulted with them and also with Saudi Arabia and with others to ensure there is no misgivings or wrong impression about Pakistan’s policies, but this new development(allowing ex-army chief to become commander of Saudi-led alliance) could now complicate things.

The analyst expressing his views said unfortunately the results of Yemen war have been nothing but one of the greatest humanitarian crises in the world.

“Huge number of people have been killed and displaced and a very horrible human rights situation has developed to which the United Nations have made the statements and even the US government has made statements but unfortunately it has assisted in some of the military attacks or even conducted military attacks which have worsened the situation so Yemen is a blot on the Muslim world,” noted Qazi.

He noted that Yemen is one of the poorest countries of the world but with great significance and great history, and it is very tragic that its people are being treated in this way. There are other ways to solve Yemen problem than going to war.

Ashraf Jehangir Qazi added that Pakistan before having a coherent, influential and successful foreign and strategic policy, needs to address the domestic challenges, because as long as the domestic problems remain there or there are divisions at home, foreign policy can never be consistent or effective.

“In the field of foreign policy, we should be able to coordinate things rather than just look at organizations like the OIC,” the expert on international affairs said.

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