(CNN)Calling Islamic extremism a disease, Saudi Arabia has announced the formation of a coalition of 34 predominately Muslim nations to fight terrorism.
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The Saudi Arabia’s state news agency, SPA, said a joint operations centre based in Riyadh will coordinate and support military operations.
The Foreign Office on Thursday confirmed Pakistan s participation in Saudia Arabia’s 34-nation military alliance against terrorism, Dunya News reported.
“This fight should be coordinated so that Islam could not be associated with terrorism”, Bilgich said.
Earlier, Pakistan on Wednesday welcomed the move and said it is awaiting further details to decide the extent of its participation in different activities of the alliance.
In recent weeks, media and politicians in Western countries have complained about what they see as Saudi Arabia’s failure to match their own focus on destroying ISIS militarily or combating its ideology.
Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry was quoted in the Dawn newspaper as saying he was surprised by the announcement and had asked the Pakistani ambassador in Riyadh for clarification.
Arab countries like Qatar and the UAE, Middle Eastern, Asian and African states including Turkey, Pakistan, Malaysia and Nigeria are in coalition.
“There will be global coordination with major powers and worldwide organisations … in terms of operations in Syria and Iraq”. Perhaps it is time to chastise the Saudi authority for taking unilateral decisions about Pakistan without even basic consultation, causing both countries worldwide embarrassment.
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Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoy friendly relations and extensive cooperation, but the Saudi agenda is not more important than Pakistan’s security in the South Asian context.
