Pakistan vows to defend Saudi Arabia against Iran-backed Houthis 'by whatever means'
Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif says Pakistan's military capabilities will be available to Saudi Arabia under the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement.
ROME: Pakistan will use “whatever means are available” to defend Saudi Arabia against Iran-backed Houthi rebels, Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said on Tuesday, offering one of Islamabad’s clearest indications yet that it could become directly involved in the widening regional conflict.
Asif declined to say whether Pakistani forces had already participated in airstrikes, but said Pakistan’s military capabilities would be available to Saudi Arabia under the new pact.
“I’m not going into detail, but obviously when I say that we are bound by this arrangement to defend Saudi Arabia, that means whatever means are available at our disposal, they’ll be available to Saudi Arabia also. I think that’s a categoric statement,” Asif told reporters.
“Any enemy of Saudi Arabia is enemy of Pakistan. That should be very clear,” he added.
His comments came days after the army chiefs of Pakistan, Turkey and Saudi Arabia met in Riyadh to discuss responses to Houthi attacks, which Asif said had intensified — missile and drone strikes on the kingdom, and expanded Houthi control along Yemen’s Red Sea coast including the port city of Mokha and several islands near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a maritime route through which about 12% of global trade passes.
The Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, signed on August 7, declares that an attack on one member would be treated as an attack on all three. The countries have described the pact as defensive and not directed against any particular state.
Sources
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