New Delhi: Executing a neat U-turn from previous statements, the Pakistan foreign ministry Thursday said that its Mecca pact with Saudi Arabia and Turkey is a defensive alliance, and that there are no plans for expansion until its foundation is solidified. This latest statement comes in response to a question on how Pakistan plans to respond to the Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia.
“The Mecca defence agreement is a defensive alliance focused on deterrence, with expansion not currently planned until its foundations are solidified. As of now expansion of the Mecca defence pact is not on the cards,” Pakistan’s foreign ministry said.
Signed on 7 August, the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement contains a mutual-defence provision under which the three countries agreed to regard an armed attack against one member as an attack against all three.
A week earlier, Pakistan foreign office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi had claimed that the defence pact was open to new members, and that Islamabad would consult Riyadh and Ankara before adding new countries to the pact.
“As an evolving security architecture, the MJDA remains open to countries who share their commitments to collective obligations and common security interests,” Andrabi told reporters last week during a weekly press briefing. He did add that “the operationalisation of the agreement remains at an early stage”.
Countries like Bangladesh had then expressed interest in joining, though Bangladesh foreign minister Shama Obaid had said there were no discussions at the policy level yet, but there was “an ongoing discussion”.
Pakistan has now walked back its own statement by saying there is no plan for expansion as of now.
Meanwhile, Yemen’s Iran-supported Houthi rebels attacked key military and oil facilities in Saudi Arabia Tuesday. The latest conflict between the Houthis and Yemen’s Saudi-backed government is embroiled in its most serious phase since an UN-brokered peace in 2022.
The escalation saw discussions around whether the Mecca pact will be activated. Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had earlier said the pact would become operational if there is a spillover of ‘whatever is happening in Yemen into Saudi Arabia”.
“This is a joint defence pact. And unprovoked aggression or spillover of whatever is happening in Yemen into Saudi Arabia, definitely, the pact will become operational; there should be no doubt in this,” Asif said. “We are bound by the terms and conditions of this pact, and we will honour them in case there is a need,” he added.
Pakistan has the world’s fourth-largest number of active-duty military personnel and is the only nuclear-armed Muslim country. Saudi Arabia has economic resources and regional influence while Turkey is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and has a large military and domestic defence industry.
The Pakistan foreign ministry condemned the Houthi attacks targeting civilian and economic sites in Saudi Arabia and reaffirmed “unwavering support for Saudi Arabia’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, security, and prosperity, as well as for the government and brotherly people of Saudi Arabia”. There was no mention of active deployment.
“Pakistan will continue to support efforts aimed at promoting lasting peace and stability in the region. Pakistan remains engaged alongside other brotherly states on this issue,” the foreign ministry said.
(Edited by Nardeep Singh Dahiya)
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