Pakistan to step up diplomatic efforts to resolve Yemen crisis: PM
Pakistan is to step up its efforts to find a diplomatic solution to the conflict in Yemen, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif says.
"Pakistan will intensify its diplomatic efforts in the coming days, in consultation with the leadership of Saudi Arabia, to resolve the crisis," said Sharif in a televised statement on Monday.
The prime minster also attempted to play down a recent spat with the United Arab Emirates after the Persian Gulf state’s foreign minister censured a Pakistani parliamentary resolution to remain neutral in the Yemen conflict as being “contradictory and dangerous and unexpected.”
The Emirati FM, Anwar Mohammed Gargash, had also warned Islamabad of the “heavy price” of taking an “ambiguous stand” over the issue.
Sharif went on to say that the row was the result of “an apparent misinterpretation" of the Pakistani resolution.
In a statement released on Sunday, Pakistan's Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan criticized Abu Dhabi for "making threats” against Islamabad.
"This is not only ironic but a thought-provoking moment that a minister of UAE is hurling threats at Pakistan. The statement of the UAE minister is in stark violation of all diplomatic norms prevalent according to the principals of international relations," he said.
On April 10, the Pakistani parliament passed a resolution that urged Islamabad to remain neutral in relation to the conflict in Yemen, dismissing Saudi Arabia’s request to join deadly air raids against the Arabian Peninsula state. The resolution, which was ratified unanimously, also called on all warring factions in Yemen to put an end to deadly clashes and resolve the conflict through dialogue.
Saudi Arabia’s military aggression against Yemen started on March 26, without a UN mandate, in a bid to restore power to the fugitive former president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh.
Hundreds of civilians, including women and children, have been killed and thousands more wounded in the Saudi airborne attacks.
SRK/NN/AS
Iran condemns terrorist attack at railway station in Pakistan's Quetta
‘Poetic genius’: Allama Iqbal Lahori in the words of Ayatollah Khamenei
Two dozen killed in blast at railway station in Pakistan's Quetta
VIDEO | Press TV's news headlines
VIDEO | Intl. conference honors martyred journalists in Gaza, Lebanon
VIDEO | Israel relies on attacking civilians, urban areas to pressure Hezbollah
VIDEO | Suppressing voices of truth
VIDEO | Martyrs of Islamic Jihad movement laid to rest in Damascus
VIDEO | Gazans produce charcoal to get warm
Hezbollah retains ‘Fire for Fire’ strategy; takes Tel Aviv under ballistic missile barrage
Iran, Azerbaijan top brass underline military, defense cooperation
PressTV NEWSLETTER
now
This makes it easy to access the Press TV website
