Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday said Pakistan stands with Saudi Arabia and will react strongly if there is a threat to its integrity, but kept mum on Riyadh’s request for military assistance to fight Houthi rebels in war-ravaged Yemen.
Making a policy statement on the Yemen crisis, days after parliament voted unanimously against military involvement in the war, Sharif tried to dispel the impression that Pakistan was dragging its feet on the issue of support to Gulf States.
“Pakistan does not abandon friends and strategic partners especially at a time when they are under threat,” he said. Sharif’s statement came after the UAE condemned parliamentary vote by Pakistani lawmakers to not get militarily involved in the Yemen conflict.