{"id":19792,"date":"2026-09-30T22:33:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T17:33:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newspulse.com.pk\/en\/?p=19792"},"modified":"2026-09-30T22:33:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T17:33:15","slug":"pakistan-says-defence-pact-binds-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newspulse.com.pk\/en\/2026\/09\/30\/pakistan-says-defence-pact-binds-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Pakistan says defence pact binds it to protect Saudi Arabia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pakistan says defence pact binds it to protect Saudi Arabia<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Khawaja Asif says Islamabad will make available all means at its disposal in case of threat to kingdom<\/p>\n

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is bound by its defence agreement with Saudi Arabia to help defend the kingdom against any threat, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif<\/a> said on Wednesday, adding that Islamabad would make available all means at its disposal.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are bound by this arrangement to defend Saudi Arabia, that means whatever means that are available at our disposal, they\u2019ll be available to Saudi Arabia also,\u201d Asif said in an interview with Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n

Asif said Pakistan would support Saudi Arabia in the event of an attack by Yemen\u2019s Houthi movement, another country or any other group that threatened the kingdom\u2019s security.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are there to help Saudi Arabia in any conflict, whether it is coming from Houthis or a country or any other outfit which threatens Saudi Arabia\u2019s security. We will be there to defend them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny enemy of Saudi Arabia is an enemy of Pakistan,\u201d Asif added, saying Islamabad\u2019s position was clear.<\/p>\n

His comments come amid renewed regional tensions and follow recent reaffirmations by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and T\u00fcrkiye of their commitment to the collective defence of the kingdom under the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement.<\/p>\n

The three countries\u2019 senior military leadership on Sept. 25 condemned attacks targeting Makkah and reaffirmed their commitment to Saudi Arabia\u2019s collective defence.<\/p>\n

Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman subsequently discussed continued joint efforts to counter attacks targeting Makkah and Saudi civilian and economic infrastructure during a meeting with Pakistan\u2019s Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir.<\/p>\n

Asif on Sept. 27 also said Pakistan and T\u00fcrkiye would stand with Saudi Arabia both practically and diplomatically in the event of aggression, reiterating Islamabad\u2019s commitment to implementing the defence agreement.<\/p>\n

The Houthis have carried out missile and drone attacks against Saudi Arabia during the conflict in Yemen, including attacks on military facilities, airports and energy infrastructure.<\/p>\n

In September 2019, the group claimed responsibility for attacks on Saudi Aramco\u2019s Abqaiq oil processing facility and Khurais oil field, which disrupted Saudi oil production.<\/p>\n

Asked about Iran\u2019s relationship with the Houthis, Asif said Tehran did not regard the group as its proxy. He said armed groups initially supported by states could eventually develop their own agendas and capabilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome country, A, B or C, they launch a proxy and then [the] proxy has its own way of multiplying and then becoming a rogue sort of entity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Asif also invoked Pakistan\u2019s longstanding position on the protection of Islam\u2019s holiest sites in Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n

He said that even in the absence of a formal agreement, Pakistan would have an obligation to protect Makkah and Madinah if they came under attack.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there wasn’t an agreement, if Saudi Arabia had been attacked, especially if the sacred cities of Makkah and Madinah were attacked, then we are bound by an eternal agreement; that is, we will protect the House of God and Madinah,\u201d he said in an interview with a private television channel.<\/p>\n

Asif said the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and T\u00fcrkiye represented a separate formal commitment to protect the three countries against security threats.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pakistan says defence pact binds it to protect Saudi Arabia Khawaja Asif says Islamabad will make available all means at its disposal in case of threat to kingdom ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is bound by its defence agreement with Saudi Arabia to help defend the kingdom against any threat, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said on Wednesday, adding […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":17040,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2297,2298],"tags":[3582,4103],"class_list":["post-19792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-pakistan","tag-defense-minister-khawaja-asif","tag-makkah-defense-pact"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newspulse.com.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newspulse.com.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newspulse.com.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newspulse.com.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newspulse.com.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19792"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newspulse.com.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19792\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19793,"href":"https:\/\/newspulse.com.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19792\/revisions\/19793"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newspulse.com.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newspulse.com.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newspulse.com.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newspulse.com.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}