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JAKARTA: Pakistan will go \u201cto any extent\u201d to defend Saudi Arabia against attack, its military spokesperson said on Thursday, as escalating Houthi strikes test new collective-defense agreements linking the nuclear-armed South Asian state to the Kingdom.<\/p>\n
The pledge follows a wave of recent missile and drone attacks by Yemen\u2019s Iran-aligned Houthi movement on Saudi cities. Falling debris from an intercepted drone killed one person and injured two others in Taif on Thursday, while more than 80 people have been wounded in recent attacks.<\/p>\n
The Saudi-led military coalition fighting the Houthis in Yemen also said this week it had intercepted a Houthi drone heading toward restricted airspace around Makkah, Islam\u2019s holiest city, although the group denied targeting it.\u00a0Separately, drones originating in Iraq damaged three pumping stations on Saudi Arabia\u2019s East-West Pipeline, forcing the critical oil-export route to close temporarily.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cPakistan fully stands with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, both diplomatically and physically,\u201d Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, director general of Inter-Services Public Relations, the military\u2019s media wing, told Arab News in an interview on Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I would like to underscore here the word physically … We will go to any extent.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chaudhry said Pakistan\u2019s commitment extended to the protection of Saudi Arabia and Islam\u2019s two holiest sites in Makkah and Madinah.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cThere should be no doubt on that,\u201d he said. \u201cSo, in a nutshell, we are there and we will continue to defend Kingdom of Saudi Arabia against any aggression.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chaudhry\u2019s language was more forceful than Islamabad\u2019s public formulation last week, when the Foreign Office said no Pakistani military response was then being discussed under the Makkah agreement \u2014 a three-nation pact under which an armed attack on Pakistan, Saudi Arabia or T\u00fcrkiye is considered an attack on all \u2014 while adding that Pakistan would act \u201cwhen time comes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The comments also come a little over a month after the Makkah Joint Defense Agreement was signed on Aug. 7. The pact is intended to strengthen collective deterrence among the three countries and built on a bilateral Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement signed by Pakistan and Saudi Arabia in September 2025, which similarly treats aggression against either country as an attack on both.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Neither agreement\u2019s full operational provisions have been made public, leaving unanswered questions about what kind of military response they require.<\/p>\n
Pakistan already has a substantial military presence in Saudi Arabia. In May, Islamabad deployed around 8,000 troops, a squadron of JF-17 fighter jets, drones and an HQ-9 air-defense system to the Kingdom, Reuters reported at the time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOur commitment to the Saudi security is unconditional,\u201d Chaudhry said. \u201cIt is it stems from an emotive, a deep rooted, historical and unbreakable bond between the people of Pakistan, between the people of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, between the political and the military leadership of the both countries.\u201d<\/p>\n
Saudi Arabia has approached several allies, including Pakistan, Britain, France and Egypt, for support as repeated Houthi attacks put pressure on the Kingdom\u2019s missile-defense supplies, the Associated Press reported this week. No country had publicly committed additional military assistance in response to the latest Saudi request at the time.<\/p>\n
Asked whether Riyadh had since requested more Pakistani troops, air-defense systems or direct participation against the Houthis, Chaudhry did not disclose whether a new request had been made.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He also did not explicitly confirm or rule out whether Pakistan\u2019s nuclear deterrent fell within the defense guarantees. Islamabad has previously sent conflicting signals: Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said after the 2025 bilateral pact was signed that Pakistan\u2019s nuclear capabilities could be made available to Saudi Arabia if needed but subsequently told Reuters that nuclear weapons were \u201cnot on the radar\u201d of the agreement.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“PEACEFUL OUTCOME”<\/strong><\/p>\n The military assurance to Riyadh comes as Islamabad also pursues diplomatic efforts to prevent the regional confrontation from widening. Pakistan has sought to mediate the US-Iran war while also conveying a Saudi warning to Tehran to use its influence to halt Houthi attacks on the Kingdom.<\/p>\n Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, Pakistan\u2019s army chief and chief of defense forces, spoke by telephone on Wednesday with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who was visiting Beijing. Iranian state media said they discussed regional developments but did not disclose whether the Houthi attacks were specifically raised.<\/p>\n Asked about the call, Chaudhry said: \u201cThe politico-military leadership of Pakistan remains in continuous communication with the esteemed leadership of this Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on all these matters.\u201d<\/p>\n He said Pakistan\u2019s political leadership, Foreign Office and other officials were consulting regional governments to seek \u201ca negotiated and peaceful outcome\u201d to the wider crisis.<\/p>\n Pakistan also mediated months of negotiations between Washington and Tehran that produced the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding in June. The agreement established a framework for ending the war and resolving disputes over Iran\u2019s nuclear program and regional security but subsequent negotiations have stalled amid renewed military escalation and disagreements over implementation.<\/p>\n Chaudhry\u00a0described the Islamabad MoU as \u201ca consensus document which we think provides the only real pathway forward for getting out of this complex military situation in which we are there.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked whether Pakistan expected to bring Washington and Tehran back to negotiations soon, Chaudhry gave no timetable, saying Islamabad continued to search for common ground despite mistrust and what he described as \u201cspoilers\u201d and \u201cdetractors.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo that effort keeps on going,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n