INDIA, along with Iran and the Houthis, may be the happiest over the decision of Pakistan's parliament to be neutral over the Saudi-led Arab coalition war against the Houthis and the forces of deposed president Ali Abdullah Saleh in Yemen. India may detect a crack as a result of this attitude in the traditional Riyadh-Islamabad strategic alliance. Let us suppose that the Saudi Shoura Council had adopted a neutral attitude if war broke out between India and Pakistan. It is true that the Kingdom does not have soldiers to send to Pakistan but it could supply it with money. We all know that financial support is an important factor in any war victory because it is the vein of life for the armed forces and their weaponry. If Saudi Arabia adopted a neutral stand in such a war, the resources of Pakistan would be depleted. In fact, the neutral stance adopted by the Pakistani parliament was only regarding the country's participation in the fighting. The parliament has, however, pledged to defend the Kingdom against any aggression. This is the most important and reliable attitude because a ground war should be a Yemeni-Yemeni business. The representatives of the people in parliaments may sometimes be less informed than their governments in the big crises. With such an attitude, the parliament members may weaken their government then hold it responsible for a shortcoming they have themselves paved the ground for.
