The August 7 agreement contains a major commitment, i.e., an armed attack against one member will be treated as an attack against all three. The question is now hanging over the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, signed barely a month ago by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye. Will Pakistan have to send troops to defend Saudi Arabia if Houthi attacks continue? But Pakistan’s military has stopped short of publicly explaining whether that promise could mean Pakistani soldiers entering combat.
Pakistan has not announced any combat deployment against the Houthis.
It is collective deterrence,” Chaudhry said. Saudi forces said this week that they intercepted a drone south of Makkah before it entered restricted airspace. Riyadh blamed the Houthis and called the safety of Makkah a “red line”.
“It is defensive. There’s nothing aggressive. There are no regional aspirations. Islamabad has also not publicly detailed whether assistance under the pact could involve troops, air defence, intelligence or other military support.
In 2015, its parliament unanimously backed neutrality in the Yemen conflict and rejected joining the Saudi-led military campaign against the Houthis. Pakistan has faced this question before. Lawmakers still pledged support for Saudi Arabia’s territorial integrity.
“What you’re asking is the ‘how’ part, how we are going to defend against aggression,” he said.
