"There were no discussions about a military reaction from Islamabad under the Mecca agreement in response to the Houthis’ attacks on Saudi Arabia," the Pakistan Foreign Ministry said in response to mounting backlash over the inability to protect a member of its defence pact.
Ever since the Iran-backed Houthis targeted Saudi Arabia’s largest energy site, Aramco, a state-owned petroleum and natural gas company, there has been a buzz around the world regarding the automatic activation of the Mecca Defence Pact.
Pakistan defence minister vows to attack but then makes a U-turn
On Thursday, Pakistan Defence Minister Asif Khawaja, during a live TV programme, asserted that Pakistan is bound to carry out an operation if any of its members is attacked. However, later there were no reports of any military or air force movement, either in the local or international media. This triggered a massive backlash online over the operational value of the defence pact.
"There is no such thing under discussion right now ... When time comes (we) will act under the agreement," Pakistan foreign ministry spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan said at a weekly media
briefing, in response to a question asking how Islamabad planned to fulfil its obligations under the joint defence accord 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.
The question arose after Iran-backed Houthis struck Saudi cities and energy infrastructure this week, continuing attacks that by Thursday had become a second theatre of war in the Middle East.
Reuters reported that Islamabad has warned Iran to rein in its Yemeni Houthi allies after they stepped up attacks on Saudi Arabia.
Pakistan, which has also been mediating the conflict between the US and Iran, condemned these attacks but provided no details on how it might respond under the terms of its defence
pact. Khan also said that there were no plans to expand the Mecca alliance, as Washington struggles to contain the regional.
Makkah Defence pact status
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey signed a major joint defence agreement on August 7 under which an “attack against one of them will be treated as an attack against all of them,” following escalating tensions in West Asia.
Attack on one, means attack on all
The Makkah Joint Defence Agreement 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,” the statement read. Experts have compared the clause to Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty (NATO).
(With inputs from agencies)
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