Islamabad - Pakistan on Friday put off plans to send a high-level delegation led by Defence Minister Khawaja Asif to Saudi Arabia until two-day meeting of the Arab League at Sharm El Sheikh concludes. The delegation would now visit the kingdom on March 30, government sources told The Nation.
The decision to send a high level delegation comprising Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, Adviser to the Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, services chiefs and some minister was taken at a high level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday. Purpose of the visit of the delegation was to assess the situation and so that Pakistan's possible role in defending the frontiers of Saudi Arabia could be decided.
Saudi Arabia blames Iran for backing Houthi rebels in Yemen to open up a front on its eastern border through Yemen after its efforts were foiled in Bahrain few years ago to destabilise the kingdom on its northern border.
Diplomatic and political observers believed that Pakistan would not jump into Saudi-Iran proxy war in Yemen blindly and follow rational course in view of its relations with Iran as well as Saudi Arabia. Warning of serious consequences of Islamabad's irrational decision, they suggested Pakistan should play a role seeking to end the conflict politically, rather than through military means.
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