Islamabad: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday quashed speculation that Pakistan may send troops to Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
“Neither has any country requested Pakistan to send forces nor will Pakistan send its troops to any other country,” Sharif said while talking to the media after a ceremony at a base of the Pakistan Air Force at Mianwali in the Punjab province.
He said the visits of Saudi Crown Prince Salman Bin Abdul Aziz and Bahrain’s King Hamad Bin Eisa Al Khalifa were in the interest of Pakistan.
On Wednesday, the Bahraini monarch and his delegation visited the Pakistan military’s Joint Services Headquarters in Rawalpindi near Islamabad, he held a meeting with the Pakistani prime minister and military chiefs.
A statement issued after the meeting by the Inter-Services Public Relations department said, “Both sides discussed brotherly relations between the two countries and vowed to further enhance military cooperation”.
Pakistani media reported that Pakistan helped Bahrain quell an opposition-led unrest in 2011 by sending security personnel recruited through the military’s welfare wings — Fauji Foundation and Bahria Foundation.
In a speech at the Mianwali air base ceremony, Sharif said that Pakistan does not harbour aggressive designs against any other country, and that it is taking necessary steps to strengthen the country’s defence.
“A strong Pakistan with strong armed forces guarantees regional peace,” the prime minister said.
He said the countries of South Asia must consider the plight of their more than one billion people, most of whom are living below the poverty line, and focus on fighting social evils such as poverty, illiteracy and disease.
The ceremony was held to rename the base after the late air force pilot M. M. Alam who gained fame during the 1965 war with India after he downed five Indian fighter aircraft in just a few minutes.
Sharif said the new name of the air base would rejuvenate bravery among the air force personnel to ensure the defence of Pakistan. He also launched a memorial postage stamp in honour of the pilot at the occasion.
