Pakistan Pledges “Whatever Means” to Shield Saudi Arabia
ROME: Pakistan has made its loyalty to Saudi Arabia plain: if the kingdom needs help against the Houthi rebels, Islamabad will give it everything it can.
Speaking to reporters in Rome on Tuesday, Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said his country would use “whatever means are available” to protect its ally. It was one of the clearest signals yet that Pakistan could be pulled into the widening conflict in the Middle East, reported by Arab News.
Asif would not say whether Pakistani planes had already struck targets in Yemen, and he did not reveal whether Riyadh had formally asked for help. But his message left little room for doubt. “Any enemy of Saudi Arabia is enemy of Pakistan,” he said.
The promise rests on the Makkah Joint Defense Agreement, signed on Aug. 7 by Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey. Under it, an attack on one is treated as an attack on all. The three nations call the pact defensive and say it targets no one in particular. Asif did not mention nuclear weapons, even though Pakistan is the group’s nuclear-armed member.
His words came just days after the army chiefs of the three countries met in Riyadh to plan a response. The worry is growing. Asif said the Houthis, backed by Iran, have stepped up missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia. They have also seized the port city of Mokha and several Red Sea islands, pushing closer to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a narrow passage that carries about 12 percent of world trade.
Along with allied militias in Iraq, the Houthis have hit Saudi oil facilities and tried to keep Saudi tankers out of the strait.
For now, the new alliance is still finding its footing. But on a Tuesday in Rome, Pakistan’s message was clear: Saudi Arabia will not stand alone.
