Govt refuses to disclose details of troops deployment in Saudi

islamabad — The government has refused to provide details of its decision to send over 1,000 soldiers to close ally Saudi Arabia for deployment, prompting Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani to threaten Defence Minister Khurram Dastgir with “contempt of parliament proceedings”.

Pakistan Army announced on February 15 the decision to send troops to Saudi Arabia on a “training and advise mission”.

Making a policy statement in the Senate, the upper house, Defence Minister Dastgir said that “Pakistani troops are being despatched to Saudi Arabia and they are only meant for imparting training to Saudi security personnel instead of

Troops are being sent to saudi arabia and they are only meant for imparting training to saudi security personnel Khurram Dastgir, Defence Minister

entangling themselves in Yemen war”.

He told lawmakers that over 1,000 contingent will be dispatched shortly as part of the decision. Currently, around 1,600 Pakistani troops are on deputation in Saudi Arabia under a bilateral agreement.

The minister said Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has approved deputing additional Pakistani troops to Saudi Arabia for training and advisory purposes, which is a continuation of an existing bilateral agreement.

He rejected the impression that by sending troops the government had violated April 2015 resolution by parliament which had asked the government to stay away from the Yemen war.

However, the Senate Chairman rejected Dastgir’s briefing to the upper house after the minister said he could not divulge “operational details” of the deployment.

“Why don’t we proceed against you and the prime minister over ‘contempt of parliament’?” Rabbani asked. — PTI