Pakistan’s military says it is committed to defending Saudi Arabia and the holy cities of Makkah and Madina, while rejecting any role in the conflict in Yemen. Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry made the remarks on Friday in Rawalpindi.
Chaudhry described the fighting in Yemen as an internal matter among Yemenis. “We are not part of the Yemeni conflict, which is an intra-Yemen conflict,” he said.
Asked whether more Pakistani troops would be sent to Saudi Arabia under the agreement, he said that would depend on the situation and on decisions taken by the political leaderships of both countries.
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Joint defence pact with Saudi Arabia and Turkiye
Pakistan signed a joint defence pact with Saudi Arabia and Turkiye on August 7. Under its terms, an attack on any signatory is treated as an attack on all. The Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, known as MJDA, has gained importance as the Iran war reshapes regional alliances and fuels concerns about a wider Middle East conflict.
Chaudhry said the wording of the pact does not rule out new members, responding to a question about whether Iran could join. “Anyone who has a shared vision of collective deterrence and regional peace, why not? Everyone is most welcome,” he said, adding that the three principal parties’ political leaderships would make that decision.
The three signatories say the agreement is aimed at collective deterrence and regional security. Analysts, however, link its development closely to efforts by regional powers to manage the fallout from the Iran-US confrontation.
Mediation efforts between Tehran and Washington
Chaudhry said Pakistan’s military is “cautiously optimistic” about Islamabad’s efforts to ease tensions between Iran and the United States. He pointed to a high-level Pakistani delegation’s visit to Tehran earlier this week and to repeated trips by Field Marshal Munir to Iran, which he said showed positive signs in mediation aimed at de-escalating the eight-month-old war.
The Field Marshal visited Tehran twice this month, with the latest trip on Monday alongside officials from Saudi Arabia and Turkiye, as Pakistan continued diplomatic efforts between Washington and Tehran. Asked whether the visits signalled progress, Chaudhry said in an interview: “Why would the Field Marshal be going twice if it is not for some positivity? So yes, of course.”
After Monday’s talks, Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said regional security should be ensured by regional countries without foreign intervention.
