Islamabad: Acting president and Chairman Senate Raza Rabbani on Wednesday conferred Nishan-i-Imtiaz (military) on Commander Royal Saudi Naval Forces Vice Admiral Abdullah S. Al-Sultan, Radio Pakistan reported.
The Nishan-i-Imtiaz or ‘Order of Excellence’ was awarded to Vice Admiral Abdullah in recognition of his outstanding services and contribution towards bringing the naval forces of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia closer together.
Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Muhammad Zakaullah and the Saudi Ambassador to Pakistan Abdullah Marzouk were also present at the ceremony.
The award was conferred just a day after Saudi Arabia announced Pakistan’s inclusion in a 34-state Islamic military coalition to combat terrorism.
The move was unexpected for some, as Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry on Wednesday said he was surprised to learn that Saudi Arabia had named Pakistan as part of the alliance. Another senior official also confirmed that Pakistan was not consulted before inclusion in the alliance.
After initial ambiguity, the Foreign Office (FO) confirmed on Wednesday its participation in the Saudi-led military alliance for ‘fighting terrorism’, but said the scope of its participation would be defined after Riyadh shared the details of the coalition it was assembling.
“Pakistan… is awaiting further details to decide the extent of its participation in different activities of the alliance,” a statement issued by the FO said.
The military had started in October a new phase in bilateral defence relationship by training Saudi special forces personnel in countering terrorism. Chief of Army Staff Gen Raheel Sharif had visited Saudi Arabia after the special exercises for discussions on counter-terrorism efforts.
The FO statement tried to brush off the embarrassment caused to Riyadh because of the reports that it had included Pakistan in the coalition without its prior knowledge by saying that it welcomed the formation of the counter-terrorism alliance.
It implicitly conceded that some information had been shared with it before the announcement from Riyadh, as the statement noted that it was awaiting ‘further’ details.
The FO said it consistently supported all efforts at fighting terrorism and a resolution adopted at the 42nd session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation had called on members to “join regional and international efforts to fight terrorism and extremist thought”.
The United States (US) on Wednesday said the new coalition supplemented its efforts to defeat terrorism and it had long been urging its Muslim allies to form such an alliance.
The Saudi government’s announcement that it had forged a coalition for coordinating and supporting military operations against terrorism in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Egypt and Afghanistan surprised many countries.
This is not the first time that Saudi Arabia has named Pakistan as part of its military alliances without Islamabad’s apparent knowledge and consent.
The Saudis earlier named Pakistan as part of the coalition that carried out operations in Yemen and a Pakistani flag was displayed at the alliance’s media centre. Pakistan later declined to join the Yemen war.
It is Pakistani government’s policy that it will not deploy its troops outside the country’s borders except for United Nations peacekeeping missions. In the past, Pakistan has twice rejected US calls for joining alliances against the militant Islamic State (IS) group on the same pretext.
“We are not looking for any involvement outside our region,” army spokesman Lt Gen Asim Bajwa had said last month while replying to a question about the possibility of Pakistan becoming part of a US-led coalition against IS.
