Pakistan vows Makkah pact support after Houthi drone threat near Mecca
Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has said the country is fully prepared to meet its obligations under the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement after Saudi Arabia said its air defences intercepted and destroyed a Houthi drone near Mecca. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also reiterated Pakistan's full support for Saudi Arabia and said Islamabad stood 'shoulder to shoulder' with Riyadh.
Speaking to Geo News on Wednesday, Asif said, 'the Makkah Agreement applies to us, and we will fulfil our duty.' He added that Pakistan did not need an agreement to protect the holy sites and said there was 'absolutely no ambiguity' about the pact's application.
Pakistan, Turkiye and Saudi Arabia signed the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement in Mecca on August 7. The pact sets out a framework for collective deterrence and says that an armed attack on any one of the three countries would be treated as an attack on all three. Asif's remarks came after several areas along Saudi Arabia's western coast, including the holy city of Mecca, were placed on security alert on Tuesday after Saudi authorities said they had intercepted and destroyed a Houthi drone south of the city. Saudi authorities said the drone was destroyed before it entered Mecca's prohibited airspace, while the Houthis denied targeting Mecca or any Islamic holy site.
The incident comes amid a wider escalation involving Saudi Arabia and the Iran-backed group, which has carried out attacks on Saudi territory in recent days and threatened maritime traffic in and around the Red Sea. Asif told Geo News, 'If Makkah is attacked, there is no need for an agreement to protect it.' He said the pact provided for mutual defence if the territorial integrity or geographical boundaries of any of the three countries were violated, but added that Pakistan would not publicly discuss details of its defence or military strategy.
Asif also said Pakistan had conveyed Saudi Arabia's message to Iran amid concerns over Houthi attacks on the kingdom. 'I don't think Iran as a state will open another front,' he said, adding that Tehran was already involved in a conflict in the region. He drew a distinction between the Iranian state and informal arrangements involving non-state groups, saying such groups could act without waiting for formal approval or support from a state. He said Iran taking sides in the conflict involving the Houthis and Saudi Arabia would not be prudent, and added that Pakistan would continue efforts to prevent the conflict from spreading to more theatres.
On the wider regional security situation, Asif said the trilateral defence agreement between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye was one arrangement that had emerged as countries assessed their security needs. He said other defence arrangements could emerge in the region, though he stressed this was his analysis and not based on any specific development. He also said countries in the region could cooperate more closely against non-state armed groups if they increasingly had to provide for their own security.
Asif said disruption to maritime routes, including the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab, was affecting trade and economies across the region, with a particular impact on Pakistan's economy. He said the wider conflict had moved beyond the issues that initially dominated discussions, with the security of maritime trade routes becoming a major concern, and stressed the need to keep these routes open. Earlier on Wednesday, Sharif condemned what he called a 'dastardly and heinous attempted drone attack' against the Holy Site of Makkah Al-Mukarramah and urged all parties to exercise maximum restraint and avoid further escalation. Overall, Pakistan has said it will honour the Makkah pact, back Saudi Arabia's defence and continue efforts to prevent the regional conflict from widening.
