ISLAMABAD: Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani on Monday expressed reservations over Defence Minister Khurram Dastagir’s statement regarding decision to send an additional contingent of the Pakistan Army to Saudi Arabia.
During his address at a Senate session, Khurram Dastagir said that an additional contingent of the armed forces, consisting of one thousand troops, is being sent to Saudia Arabia for training. “1500 Pakistani soldiers are deployed in the Kingdom, while another 1000 will shortly be sent to Saudi Arabia for training missions,” said Dastagir.
He assured Senate’s upper house that the country’s troops will not take party in Saudi Arabia’s Yemen war and that the contingent is only being dispatched to the Kingdom for training missions and will stay within bounds of the region.
Senate chairman, however, expressed reservations over the defence minister’s statements, saying that the speech regarding deployment of troops in Saudi Arabia is ‘inadequate’ and ‘unsatisfactory’.
Rabbani questioned Dastagir on why the upper house was not taken into confidence while making such a decision. He added that the defence minister should have issued a statement regarding deployment of troops before Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) announced the decision in a press release.
Earlier this week, ISPR announced in a press release that a 1000 troop contingent will be sent to Saudi Arabia for a training and advice mission.