Pak likely to quit ‘sectarian’ coalition
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan may be reconsidering its role in the Saudi-led Islamic Military Alliance against Terrorism as there is opposition in the country over the sectarian nature of the alliance.
Foreign Office officials have said one of the reasons why Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was not allowed to speak at the recent gathering of leaders from Muslim countries to meet US President Donald Trump was because his speech contained comments about reconciliation with Iran.
The government has already made a public commitment that it would not be part of any initiative which aims to target any other Islamic country. Defence minister Khawaja Asif assured the National Assembly that Pakistan would withdraw if the alliance turns out to be sectarian.
The government has avoided discussions on the matter but now Sartaj Aziz, advisor to the prime minister on foreign affairs, had agreed to brief the Senate on the matter after the chamber’s chairman, Raza Rabbani, served notices to ministers and secretaries of defence and foreign affairs to appear before its members.
The issue came to light when the house took up a notice from opposition MP Farhatullah Babar who was asking for the government’s response on reported statements from the Saudi authorities that the military alliance would also act against any rebel groups posing a threat to any member country.
Pakistani MPs have said that they do not want their country to be part of any sectarian alliance as it also goes against the country’s Constitution.
In the middle of this is the case of former army chief Raheel Sharif, who is supposed to lead the 41-nation anti-terrorism alliance.
It was thought that the government had already joined the alliance when in April it granted permission to Sharif, now in Saudi Arabia, to lead the alliance.
Officials, however, said the final decision is yet to be taken and will be made once the terms of reference of the alliance are finalised during the meeting of defence ministers of the participating countries.