On the Question of Pakistani Troops involvement in Yemen

There is no doubt that the conflict in Yemen has strong sectarian overtones in its implications. This is more accurate in context of Pakistan where government finds itself in a strategic dilemma of choosing to join Saudi led coalition fighting in Yemen or Not. But this must be understood that there are other dynamics of this conflict. Most important of them is the poor track record of Yemeni governments towards various ethnic factions of the society. The history of Yemen prior to 1990 when the country was united, is also important. South and North Yemen had conflicting foreign policies and were part of opposing blocks during the Cold War era. The crisis of Yemen is manifestation of years of real politics revolving around power grabbing catalyzed by foreign interference.

Ironically, with just few exceptions, the commentary and analysis of the crisis revolves only around Sectarian implications which Pakistan possibly can face as a consequence of any decision Islamabad is about to take on the Saudi request of sending the troops. All the other aspects are being overlooked in this debate. Furthermore, Pakistan has not announced any decision in this regard so far. All the news in international media are based on pure speculations. There is a higher probability that Pakistan will play a role similar to 1997 OIC summit when Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif arranged one-to-one meeting between then Saudi Crown Prince, Abdullah and Iranian President Rafsanjani. This is the best possible discourse for Pakistan right now.

Any participation in the active war in Yemen against Shia rebels or ignoring the Saudi request all together would not serve Pakistan's interests. It must be cleared that Pakistani troops participating in join military exercises with their Saudi counterparts have nothing to do with Pakistan's decision regarding Saudi request contrary to what has been reported by some Arab media houses in this regard.