Pakistan army contingent to be posted in Saudi Arabia on 'training and advisory mission' | World Defense

Pakistan army contingent to be posted in Saudi Arabia on 'training and advisory mission'

Hithchiker

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https://www.dawn.com/news/1389590/p...saudi-arabia-on-training-and-advisory-mission

A Pakistan army contingent will be stationed in Saudi Arabia on a "training and advisory mission", a press release from Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Thursday.

The announcement followed a meeting between Saudi Arabia's Ambassador, Nawaf Saeed Al-Maliki, and Pakistan Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa earlier today at General Headquarters Rawalpindi.

During their meeting, Gen Bajwa and Al-Maliki discussed matters of "mutual interest", including the regional security situation, the ISPR press statement said.
The contingent will join Pakistani troops that are already stationed in Saudi Arabia and "will not be deployed outside the Kingdom", the statement read.
Pakistan already has around 1,180 troops in Saudi Arabia under a 1982 bilateral agreement. The deployed troops are mostly serving in training and advisory roles, according to a report.

Both Pakistan and Saudi Arabia share strong military ties. Pakistan is one of the 41 members of the Saudi-led Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition (IMCTC) that is being headed by a former army chief, the retired Gen Raheel Sharif. The military alliance was formally launched by Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman last year.
 

Hithchiker

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Army says troops being sent to Saudi Arabia

ISLAMABAD: Taking a major decision, the army on Thursday announced that it is deploying troops in Saudi Arabia under an existing bilateral security pact.

“In continuation of ongoing Pak-KSA bilateral security cooperation, a Pakistan Army contingent is being sent to KSA on training and advice mission,” the Inter-Services Public Relations announced after a meeting between Army Chief Gen Qamar Bajwa and Saudi Ambassador Nawaf Saeed Al-Maliki at the General Headquarters, which was said to be about “regional security situation”.

Gen Bajwa had earlier this month quietly visited Saudi Arabia, where he stayed for nearly three days and his only known meetings were with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Commander of Ground Forces Lt Gen Prince Fahd bin Turki bin Abdulaziz. This was his second visit to the kingdom in two months.

Saudi Arabia has been demanding deployment of Pakistani troops since the start of the Yemen conflict in 2015, but Pakistan has been struggling to evade the demand despite a unanimously adopted parliamentary resolution affirming the country’s “neutrality” in the conflict.


ISPR insists soldiers will not be employed outside kingdom

Last year Pakistan sent its retired army chief Gen Raheel Sharif to lead a Saudi coalition. Therefore, it was always speculated that the deployment would take place even though it could not happen as quickly as the Saudis wanted.

The ISPR insists that the new deployment and nearly 1,000 Pakistani troops already stationed there would not be “employed outside KSA”.

There was no word on the size of the deployment.

However, multiple sources hinted that it might be the size of a composite brigade. Another version is that the numbers are still being worked out.

When contacted, ISPR Director General Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor said the deployment would be much lesser than a division, and he would give the details at a press conference.

The deployment is being made at a time when Saudi Arabia’s Yemen woes are aggravating. The kingdom’s air campaign against Houthi militias has failed to achieve victory, whereas on the ground local Yemeni allies of Saudi Arabia and the UAE have turned the guns on each other, further complicating the conflict. The Houthis have, meanwhile, intensified missile attacks on Saudi targets, though most have been intercepted by the Saudi air defence systems before they could hit the targets.

The phrasing of the last Foreign Office statement condemning the Houthi missile attacks had clearly shown that a shift in Pakistani policy was in the offing.

The FO had said that the Houthi attacks posed a threat to the security of the kingdom and holy places there. Threat to holy mosques was always mentioned as a red line.

The decision to deploy troops is expected to ruffle feathers in Pakistan’s neighbourhood.

The ISPR statement, therefore, made it a point to reassure that the Pakistan “Army maintains bilateral security cooperation with many other GCC/regional countries”.

It should be recalled that the ambassadors of Iran and Turkey had earlier this week met Gen Bajwa, and it is believed that they were briefed about the army’s decision. A day before the meetings with the Turkish and Iranian envoys, Gen Bajwa reportedly made a secret trip to Doha to meet Qatar’s emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.

Since the eruption of a diplomatic row between Riyadh and Doha and subsequent blockade of Qatar, Turkey and Iran are considered on one side of the alignment in the Middle East, while most of the Arab countries on the Saudi side. Kuwait and Oman, meanwhile, appear to be playing neutral.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1389722/army-says-troops-being-sent-to-saudi-arabia
 

Tps77

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Army says troops being sent to Saudi Arabia

ISLAMABAD: Taking a major decision, the army on Thursday announced that it is deploying troops in Saudi Arabia under an existing bilateral security pact.

“In continuation of ongoing Pak-KSA bilateral security cooperation, a Pakistan Army contingent is being sent to KSA on training and advice mission,” the Inter-Services Public Relations announced after a meeting between Army Chief Gen Qamar Bajwa and Saudi Ambassador Nawaf Saeed Al-Maliki at the General Headquarters, which was said to be about “regional security situation”.

Gen Bajwa had earlier this month quietly visited Saudi Arabia, where he stayed for nearly three days and his only known meetings were with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Commander of Ground Forces Lt Gen Prince Fahd bin Turki bin Abdulaziz. This was his second visit to the kingdom in two months.

Saudi Arabia has been demanding deployment of Pakistani troops since the start of the Yemen conflict in 2015, but Pakistan has been struggling to evade the demand despite a unanimously adopted parliamentary resolution affirming the country’s “neutrality” in the conflict.


ISPR insists soldiers will not be employed outside kingdom

Last year Pakistan sent its retired army chief Gen Raheel Sharif to lead a Saudi coalition. Therefore, it was always speculated that the deployment would take place even though it could not happen as quickly as the Saudis wanted.

The ISPR insists that the new deployment and nearly 1,000 Pakistani troops already stationed there would not be “employed outside KSA”.

There was no word on the size of the deployment.

However, multiple sources hinted that it might be the size of a composite brigade. Another version is that the numbers are still being worked out.

When contacted, ISPR Director General Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor said the deployment would be much lesser than a division, and he would give the details at a press conference.

The deployment is being made at a time when Saudi Arabia’s Yemen woes are aggravating. The kingdom’s air campaign against Houthi militias has failed to achieve victory, whereas on the ground local Yemeni allies of Saudi Arabia and the UAE have turned the guns on each other, further complicating the conflict. The Houthis have, meanwhile, intensified missile attacks on Saudi targets, though most have been intercepted by the Saudi air defence systems before they could hit the targets.

The phrasing of the last Foreign Office statement condemning the Houthi missile attacks had clearly shown that a shift in Pakistani policy was in the offing.

The FO had said that the Houthi attacks posed a threat to the security of the kingdom and holy places there. Threat to holy mosques was always mentioned as a red line.

The decision to deploy troops is expected to ruffle feathers in Pakistan’s neighbourhood.

The ISPR statement, therefore, made it a point to reassure that the Pakistan “Army maintains bilateral security cooperation with many other GCC/regional countries”.

It should be recalled that the ambassadors of Iran and Turkey had earlier this week met Gen Bajwa, and it is believed that they were briefed about the army’s decision. A day before the meetings with the Turkish and Iranian envoys, Gen Bajwa reportedly made a secret trip to Doha to meet Qatar’s emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.

Since the eruption of a diplomatic row between Riyadh and Doha and subsequent blockade of Qatar, Turkey and Iran are considered on one side of the alignment in the Middle East, while most of the Arab countries on the Saudi side. Kuwait and Oman, meanwhile, appear to be playing neutral.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1389722/army-says-troops-being-sent-to-saudi-arabia
Btw nothing significant
If syria can ask iran for advisors why cant KSA?
 

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friendly nations do send advisors and trainers to their allies so no harm there. as long as they are not fighting the war it should be fine.
 

Hithchiker

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friendly nations do send advisors and trainers to their allies so no harm there. as long as they are not fighting the war it should be fine.
Yes it only become news due to the current scenario and blown out of proportion..While ISPR statement is clear
 

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Yes it only become news due to the current scenario and blown out of proportion..While ISPR statement is clear

even though i don't support fighting other's wars for them i still can't find any problem here. it's just normal exchange of trainers and advisors .
making an issue of non issue is favorite pass time of our nation.
 
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Hithchiker

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even though i don't support fighting other's wars for them i still can't find any problem here. it's just normal exchange of trainers and advisors .
making an issue of non issue is favorite past time of our nation.
yes, agreed fighting wars with other should be on reciprocal bases, if necessary ....
We always need something to make an issue so that real issues ( food,job and health) are ignored
 

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Personally, I think it a very significant move and one that will have repercussions in the future. Foreign intervention is rarely an unmixed blessing. Ask the Russians. Ask the Americans. Ask the Indians.
 

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Good move what Saudi Arabia wants is just a political standpoint from Pakistan. When Turkey felt threaten by Russia, Saudi Arabia deployed its F-15 in Incirlik base. Although our relation with turkey now is not in its best shape. As for Yemen, we have already cleared around 90% of Yemen and its now under control. We aren't in rush after all. Its good to get rid of the old dusty stock we have.
 

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Second point I want to make is that, if God forbids Pakistan get into a situation of any sort, Saudi Arabia will stand firmly by Pakistan. I remember how Saudi Arabia turned the whole world against Iran in the 80s and again against Iraq in the 90s. What if a war erupts between lets say China and the US and pakistan found its self involved? or Pakistan-India? There is no emotion here. We have to acknowledge that such thing might break out any second. Pakistan will be looking for its allies not necessary for military back up. Political and economic back up is way more important and Saudi Arabia has a heavy weight in the international arena. We bailed Tunisia & Egypt and we launch a full scale military op again Houthies. We have to think of it as visa versa. Also form a religious point of view is an obligation.

I think I will be opening a thread and talk about that in details bringing up all points from military, politics, economy to geo strategy.
 

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Second point I want to make is that, if God forbids Pakistan get into a situation of any sort, Saudi Arabia will stand firmly by Pakistan. I remember how Saudi Arabia turned the whole world against Iran in the 80s and again against Iraq in the 90s. What if a war erupts between lets say China and the US and pakistan found its self involved? or Pakistan-India? There is no emotion here. We have to acknowledge that such thing might break out any second. Pakistan will be looking for its allies not necessary for military back up. Political and economic back up is way more important and Saudi Arabia has a heavy weight in the international arena. We bailed Tunisia & Egypt and we launch a full scale military op again Houthies. We have to think of it as visa versa. Also form a religious point of view is an obligation.

I think I will be opening a thread and talk about that in details bringing up all points from military, politics, economy to geo strategy.

Fair enough. It will make very interesting reading, particularly as we try to decipher what material changes it will make to the situation prevailing.

Pakistan has faced difficult conditions in the past, and has bravely managed it on her own, more or less (except for the offer of the Indonesian Navy to support her in 1965, and the stories about Iranian and Jordanian jets on display, again in 1965). I think it is a bold decision by Saudi Arabia, if what we have just read represents the official position of the KSA government. Very supportive, and very reassuring to a beleaguered government of a friendly nation. It is not clear whether such support was extended in the past, in your view, or it is your suggestion that it will be there in the future, whatever may have happened in the past. World opinion can be cultivated, it is true, and that has been done in the past, it is also true. It is an interesting proposition that it might be turned in favour of Pakistan on some future occasion.

I believe that we understand each other, and propose to leave it at that. This goes beyond consideration of the good qualities or bad of a transient administration in a parliamentary democracy that is prone to change.
 

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even though i don't support fighting other's wars for them i still can't find any problem here. it's just normal exchange of trainers and advisors

Why shy away from an opportunity and not cash on it? Its the test of diplomacy and these fckr Pakistani politicians every time fail miserably.

Its about national interests, opening new doors, keeping everyone locked in, and expanding your reach and influence, the world respects a stronger nation ........ they don't respect corrupt confused beggars and lazy rears ...... Nations have to invade others for their global reach ......... and Pakistan is the only country that is asked again and again "Come assume the role". How many times will we refuse and keep confused? There is a difference between Vietnam, Maldives, Afghanistan, Iraq .......... vs Suadi Arabia ....... when it comes to where they stand internationally and what weight they carry ...... Suppose what would Pakistan do the day Israel attacks Iran? (though its never going to happen but still) ........ I can imagine ..... we will see everyday protests in Pakistan, a major chunk of Pakistanis will go to Iran to fight for them, These same Pakistani senators Raza Rabbani and Farhatullah Babar (who are questioning this move) would be demanding Defense Minister to send equipment and support to brotherly Islamic Iran ...... it will soon turn into a religious duty and Pakistani nation will be dragged into it swiftly .......... try refusing being part of that and see what Pakistanis themselves do after that.

Bai Saudi Arab is our Sonay ki Chiria, they have the money and oil, we have the human resource, bohat say log hain un ko Pakistan k liay istimal kar lo is dafa ............ why Iran's sentiment should have any relevance in our relations and deals with Saudi? Iranians are also enjoying our military training and advisors ..... We took off our pants and used them to shut our mouths on Chahbahar ......


Personally, I think it a very significant move and one that will have repercussions in the future. Foreign intervention is rarely an unmixed blessing. Ask the Russians. Ask the Americans. Ask the Indians.


Joe Sahib ......... We are not intervening in matters of a Non Muslim country ........ we are being requested again and again .... it doesn't cost us much if we play our cards right.
 

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Why shy away from an opportunity and not cash on it? Its the test of diplomacy and these fckr Pakistani politicians every time fail miserably.

Its about national interests, opening new doors, keeping everyone locked in, and expanding your reach and influence, the world respects a stronger nation ........ they don't respect corrupt confused beggars and lazy rears ...... Nations have to invade others for their global reach ......... and Pakistan is the only country that is asked again and again "Come assume the role". How many times will we refuse and keep confused? There is a difference between Vietnam, Maldives, Afghanistan, Iraq .......... vs Suadi Arabia ....... when it comes to where they stand internationally and what weight they carry ...... Suppose what would Pakistan do the day Israel attacks Iran? (though its never going to happen but still) ........ I can imagine ..... we will see everyday protests in Pakistan, a major chunk of Pakistanis will go to Iran to fight for them, These same Pakistani senators Raza Rabbani and Farhatullah Babar (who are questioning this move) would be demanding Defense Minister to send equipment and support to brotherly Islamic Iran ...... it will soon turn into a religious duty and Pakistani nation will be dragged into it swiftly .......... try refusing being part of that and see what Pakistanis themselves do after that.

Bai Saudi Arab is our Sonay ki Chiria, they have the money and oil, we have the human resource, bohat say log hain un ko Pakistan k liay istimal kar lo is dafa ............ why Iran's sentiment should have any relevance in our relations and deals with Saudi? Iranians are also enjoying our military training and advisors ..... We took off our pants and used them to shut our mouths on Chahbahar ......





Joe Sahib ......... We are not intervening in matters of a Non Muslim country ........ we are being requested again and again .... it doesn't cost us much if we play our cards right.

Umm....wrong tree. I didn't say either of those.

First, you are taking sides between a raggedy bunch of rebels who have missiles and keep firing them off in all directions; if they land one in the wrong place, I wonder what the shape of the world will be. Even the Iranians will distance themselves from the scene of that crime, in less than a nano-second. As it is, I am amazed that they haven't tried to stop this very dangerous stu

Second, you have enough problems of your own. With an anti-Muslim administration on your east, and an anti-Pakistan administration on your west, with allies and supporters who, in the east, have gained you what some members - at least one on this forum - steadfastly refuse to acknowledge, a bad reputation in many parts of the world (ironic in view of @Scorpion having said what he did about the good effects of having a friend who can speak for the country in circles that matter), and who, in the west, have earned you the active displeasure of the strongest military force in the world; with a failed economy that Mastan Khan on another forum feels needs KSA to put up large sums of money so that the rest of the country can be safely ignored, and the conventional forces built up sufficiently for an amphibious landing on the Konkan coast - I mean, do I have to go on?

Third, you are actively buying Iranian displeasure, and driving them more forcefully into the ranks of those who don't like you very much. It could matter.

Fourth, you are ringing alarm bells in circles that have been cozying up to the same countries who are inviting you over. It now seems that all the fuss and feathers was carefully organised to soften this impact, and it will have a definite impact in those already less than friendly places, a bad impact, one that will deepen and intensify whatever ill feeling exists, and extend it to cover your friends as well.

Of course, it is no consolation to us that you are not intervening in the affairs of a non-Muslim country. @Scorpion has spelt out the implications of that very, very clearly. From our point of view, the OIC huffing and puffing and threatening to blow our house down is one thing; an active military ally of the KSA is quite another. That carries with it a lot more, many of the Gulf states, Jordan, for sure; who else is not sure, but whoever it is, that is not good news for a Modi-governed India. At the same time, it is not incentive for throwing out Modi; instead, it will strengthen his position for India to discover that Muslim states are actively involved with Pakistan in a military alliance.
 
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