Pakistan Denies Being In Saudi-led Anti-Terror Alliance‏

Islamabad has denied being a part of the 34-nation Islamic military alliance against terrorism announced by the Saudi Crown Prince and Defence Minister Mohammed bin Salman.

The Saudi Arabian news agency has mentioned Pakistan together with Malaysia, UAE and Qatar being in the Saudi-led alliance which will establish a control center in Riyadh to coordinate operations against terrorist groups in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan among others.

A senior official of Pakistan’s Foreign Office quoted by Express Tribune said they were gathering details about the newly formed alliance. “We came to know about it (the alliance) through news reports. We have asked our ambassador in Saudi Arabia to get details on it,” he said,

Pakistan seems to have been caught off guard by the Saudi announcement as a senior government functionary told The Express Tribune that he could not confirm whether Pakistan had joined the Saudi alliance.“We have been cooperating with Saudi Arabia on counter-terrorism efforts but I am not sure we are going to be part of any military alliance.”

Pakistan had never joined any military alliance without UN backing; the official said adding that was the reason why it did not join the Yemeni conflict on the side of Saudi Arabia.

The senior official threw another surprise stating that Pakistan would not send its troops on foreign soil even if Islamabad become part of this new coalition.