Why Pakistan is sending troops to Saudi Arabia

Published February 16, 2018 7:13pm ET



As first reported by Reuters, the Pakistani Army is sending soldiers to Saudi Arabia on a “training and advice” mission.

This is notable because Pakistan has previously been reluctant to commit forces to Saudi military operations such as that in Yemen. Fearing a deterioration in relations with Iran (which is fighting the Saudis in Yemen right now) and being sucked into the Yemen quagmire, Pakistani Army headquarters had been happy to stay home (the Inter-Services Intelligence excluded), and the Pakistani Parliament deferred to that intent.

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