Pakistan warns Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia could activate Mecca defence pact: What it means - The Indian Express

Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has said the recently signed Saudi-Turkey-Pakistan defence pact or Mecca agreement could become operational if Saudi Arabia faces “unprovoked aggression” or the conflict in Yemen spills into the kingdom, a day after Iran-aligned Houthi forces launched attacks on Saudi territory.

“If there is unprovoked aggression, or a spillover of whatever is happening in Yemen into Saudi Arabia, definitely the Mecca agreement will become operational,” Geo News quoted Asif as saying.

On Thursday, Pakistan foreign ministry spokesperson Sajjad Haider ​Khan, however, said at a ⁠weekly media briefing that there were no discussions about a military reaction from Islamabad under the Mecca agreement in response to ⁠the ​Houthis’ attacks on Saudi Arabia. But the defence minister noted that Pakistan will “act” when the “time comes”, news agency Reuters reported.

The comments by Pakistan’s ​foreign ​ministry spokesperson came in ⁠response to a question on how Islamabad plans ‌to fulfill its obligations under a joint defence accord it signed with Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

The joint defence agreement signed last month stipulates that an ⁠armed ⁠attack on any one of the three countries ⁠will ‌be regarded as an ​attack on all of ‌them.

“There is no such thing under discussion right ‌now … When time ​comes (we) ​will ​act under the agreement,” ​Khan.

The Pakistani defence minister further said that Islamabad was bound by the terms of the agreement and will honour the pact if required.

“There should be no doubt about that. We are bound by the terms and conditions of this pact, and … we will honour them in case there is a need,” Asif added.

Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkey signed the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement on August 7, committing to reinforce stronger collective deterrence, treating an armed attack on any one country as an attack on all three.

A joint release by the three countries stated that the pact is “intended to strengthen collective deterrence against any act of aggression and stipulates that any armed attack against any one of the three states shall be regarded as an attack against them all. It further provides for the enhancement of all aspects of defence cooperation among the three states.”

However, the extent and nature of commitments by the three countries for joint defence are not publicly known. Nor has the geographical scope of such an arrangement been spelt out.

The deal was agreed amid heightened regional tensions, including concerns in the three nations over Israel’s expanding military capabilities and Iran’s influence across the Gulf region.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis launched missile strikes that hit targets in southern Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, injuring several and disrupting operations at some energy facilities, including Aramco.

The attacks wounded at least 73 people in attacks on Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jazan and Najran, Colonel Turki al-Malki, spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, said.

Following this, the Saudi-backed forces retaliated and launched 32 airstrikes overnight targeting four Yemeni provinces.

Houthi spokesman Nasruddin Amer, in a post on X, said on Wednesday that Saudi had hit Yemen’s Taiz, Hodeida, Jawf and Marib provinces.

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