On Friday, Pakistan's parliament voted down a proposal to send troops to Yemen in support of a military campaign by fellow Sunni-majority nation Saudi Arabia. Instead, after days of debate, lawmakers unanimously passed a resolution stating that "the parliament desires that Pakistan should maintain neutrality in the Yemen conflict so as to be able to play a proactive diplomatic role to end the crisis."
Sunni groups in Pakistan had pressured the government to join Saudi Arabia's campaign since it started two weeks ago, and the parliament on Friday voiced its "unequivocal support" for Saudi Arabia, especially if it faced any threat to its own territory. But Pakistan also has a sizable Shiite minority and a long border with Shiite Iran, which is backing Yemen's Shiite Houthi rebels. Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif was in Pakistan on Thursday urging Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and other officials to stay neutral in the conflict. —Peter Weber
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