Pakistan is in a fix over Saudi Arabia's request for support to anticipate possible military incursions in the country by Islamic State (IS) militants who have taken over large swathes of Iraq and Syria.
According to the Express Tribune, the proposal from Riyadh to Pakistan was a key issue on the agenda during Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's visit to Saudi Arabia where he received an unprecedented welcome from the newly crowned king Salman bin Abdulaziz.
A senior official said that Riyadh wants Islamabad to send troops to help it in the fight against IS.
The new Saudi monarch will offer Islamabad an economic package, which includes supply of oil on deferred payment in return, said another official familiar with the discussion
A western diplomat said that the Saudis are focused at increasing their security and that Pakistan is of great interest to them with its history of services of the Kingdom.
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