ISLAMABAD: Defence Minister Khurram Dastgir on Monday stunned senators by bluntly refusing to divulge the location of the deployment of additional troops being sent to Saudi Arabia even in an in-camera session.

Making a policy statement in the Senate about the issue of an army contingent being sent to Saudi Arabia, the defence minister said some 1,600 troops were already deployed in Saudi Arabia while more than 1,000 troops were to be dispatched under a decision recently finalised.

He said the troops being sent as part of ‘enhanced cooperation’ with Saudi Arabia would be deployed within the geographical boundaries of the kingdom to impart training to Saudi troops as they had learnt skills of mountain warfare and counterterrorism, which was not the case when the military cooperation with Saudi Arabia started under a protocol signed in 1982.

The minister, however, said the operational details could not be shared. When Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani observed that information could not be withheld from parliament and offered an in-camera session for the purpose, the minister said exact details could not be given in a closed-door meeting as it involved national security.

Tells Senate ISPR announced decision soon after prime minister approved it

“Don’t give us a lollypop”, were the remarks of the chairman when the minister stressed that the troops would stay “within the geographical boundaries of Saudi Arabia”.

When the minister disclosed that the matter of additional deployment had been under discussion for months and claimed that he and Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi were on board, the Senate chairman said: “Then the contempt of parliament falls on you and the prime minister. Should parliament not have been taken into confidence when you were aware of it? You had so many months to take parliament and its committees into confidence as you say you were part and parcel of the exercise,” he remarked.

Mr Rabbani said: “Let us not talk about the supremacy of parliament. You as executive are rubbing the nose of parliament into sand.”

Earlier, when Mr Dastgir sought permission to read out a policy statement, the Senate chairman wondered why it could not be read out prior to the ISPR announcement. An apparently confused minister just said the ISPR announced the decision soon after Prime Minister Abbasi accorded approval.

Reading out a written statement, the defence minister said military cooperation between Pakistan and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia were nearly five decades old. He said Pakistan’s armed forces maintained bilateral and multilateral cooperation globally with allies, partners, and friendly countries; especially with the Muslim countries of the Middle East.

“Our engagement has included bilateral exchanges of troops and deputation of our training teams.

“The training of Saudi forces is governed by the 1982 bilateral Pak-Saudi Protocol on the Deputation of Pakistan Armed Forces Personnel and Military Training. For training of Saudi forces, Pakistani troops remained deputed and continue to be so today in various geographic zones and areas of Saudi Arabia.

“Around 1,600 Pakistani armed forces personnel are on deputation currently to Saudi Arabia. Pakistan also trains Saudi armed forces personnel in various training academies and institutions in Pakistan.

“Nearly 10,000 Saudi armed forces trainees have attended training courses in Pakistan. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia hold joint defence exercises regularly.”

He said the prime minister approved the “recent decision to depute additional troops” for training and advising Saudi forces. The assistance being rendered to Saudi Arabia was a “continuation of the ongoing support”, he said, claiming that it was within the confines of the joint parliamentary resolution of April 2015.

He told the House that the planned training and advisory contingent had yet not been dispatched to the kingdom. It would have the strength of “more than 1,000 troops of all ranks” and would be dispatched shortly.

This contingent, once deputed in Saudi Arabia, would perform its training and advisory mission while remaining within the geographical boundaries of the kingdom.

Senator Farhatullah Babar stressed that all concerns remained despite the defence minister’s statement. “Has a decision been taken to deploy troops at the border of [the southern Saudi province of] Sharura,” he asked.

The minister in response just said that Pakistan had maintained neutrality and would continue to do so but kept on insisting “Don’t ask where in Saudi Arabia the troops will be deployed.”

Many lawmakers warned the government against indulging in any proxy wars and advised it to learn from the mistakes committed in the past.

Senate passes bill to decriminalise attempted suicide

The Senate earlier passed a bill seeking to decriminalise attempted suicide and providing treatment and protection to those who try to end their lives.

Under Section 325 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), both suicide and attempted suicide are currently considered criminal offences, with the latter punishable either by a jail term of up to a year, or a fine, or both.

The Criminal Laws (Amendment) Bill 2017, moved by Senator Abdul Karim Khawaja and already cleared by the Senate Standing Committee on Interior, proposes that the survivors of suicide attempts should be provided treatment and not awarded punishment, as they try to kill themselves because of chemical changes in their brain which is nothing but a disease. The state should treat those who seek to take their own lives like a mother, the bill argues.

“A person attempts suicide only in a state of extreme frustration,” it says, demanding that the state safeguard the victims of mental illnesses and depression.

Besides, the House also discussed the ban on the issuance of automatic weapon licences. The lawmakers urged the government to revisit the decision citing that the ban would throw people at the mercy of terrorists equipped with modern arms and ammunition.

Published in Dawn, February 20th, 2018