[DAWN] After the resolution, the recriminations. It may have been a stirring riposte to unreasonable demands, but the consensus parliamentary resolution last week was always going to draw criticism from the Arab states that had wanted Pakistain firmly on the side of the Saudi-led coalition attacking the Houthis inside Yemen.Perhaps the only surprise is that the first broadside has come from the UAE, with Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Mohammad Gargash using decidedly undiplomatic language to vent his, and possibly his state's, apparent frustration with the Pak decision to not participate in hostilities inside Yemen.
There are at least two things that need to be considered here. First, Mr Gargash's comments have underscored precisely what was argued in parliament last week: the conflict in Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic...
is not about Yemen itself but seen by Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
and its allies as part of a much wider struggle to push back against perceived Iranian influence in the region.
That in and of itself is reason enough for Pakistain to abide by the parliamentary resolution -- Pakistain's ties with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries cannot and should not come at the expense of a third country with which Pakistain shares a significant border.
What Mr Gargash, and surely his counterparts in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf and Arab countries, may be perceived as seeking to do is to use the Yemen conflict to effectively declare war on Iran. But Pakistain has no reason whatsoever to engage Iran in a conflict, directly or via proxies.
In fact, it is in Pakistain's interests to broaden ties with Iran, especially in terms of energy cooperation, and to position itself to take advantage of the rollback of sanctions that the US-Iran nuclear deal may allow.