Rawalpindi, October 19,2026: Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry has said Pakistan is providing and will continue to provide all necessary support to defend Saudi Arabia, stressing that the kingdom’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and the security of the Two Holy Mosques are non-negotiable for Islamabad.
In an interview with Independent Arabia aired on Sunday, the military spokesperson’s remarks came amid renewed tensions in the Middle East and reported attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels against Saudi Arabia.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have signed the Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement, while the Makkah Joint Defence Alliance also includes Turkiye. The arrangements are aimed at strengthening collective deterrence and regional security.
Responding to a question about the military support Pakistan was providing to Saudi Arabia, Lt Gen Chaudhry said the kingdom’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and, above all, the security of the Two Holy Mosques were paramount for Pakistan.
“It’s non-negotiable; it’s absolute as far as Pakistan is concerned,” he said, adding that whatever support was needed would be provided. He noted that military alliances generally did not publicly disclose the specific nature or scale of the assistance extended to their members.
The DG ISPR said the reported Houthi attacks had generated strong public and official reactions in Pakistan, questioning why anyone would attack or threaten Saudi Arabia or the holy sites.
He stressed that there could be no compromise on the security of the holy places.
Makkah alliance is defensive, says DG ISPR
Addressing concerns over whether Pakistan’s support would remain defensive if Houthi attacks continued, Lt Gen Chaudhry said all three members of the Makkah alliance were clear that the arrangement had no offensive intent and was purely defensive.
Referring to Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, which recognizes the right of individual and collective self-defence, he said the collective deterrence mechanism sent a clear message that any direct or indirect attack against one of the three countries would prompt a collective response.
He added that if deterrence failed, the three countries would have to re-establish it through all means available to them.
The military spokesperson said the alliance was not directed against any particular country, including Iran or Israel. Instead, its objective was to promote peace, stability and security in the region.
He maintained that any actor threatening those objectives would fall within the scope of the alliance’s collective deterrence mechanism.
Pakistan engaging all parties to reduce tensions
Asked whether Pakistan had warned Iran over the Houthi attacks, following remarks by Saudi Arabia’s deputy foreign minister linking Tehran to the group, Lt Gen Chaudhry said Islamabad was engaging with all parties, including Iran, with the aim of exercising restraint and reducing tensions.
He said Pakistan’s diplomatic interactions were focused on de-escalation and preventing the conflict from spreading further across the region.
Describing the pattern of tensions in the Middle East, he said periods of relative calm were repeatedly interrupted by actions that reignited hostilities.
Such escalation, he argued, would not resolve the conflict but would benefit only those seeking instability in the region.
At the same time, he said Pakistan was sending a strong signal that collective deterrence was already in operation and that Islamabad would take all necessary measures to safeguard Saudi Arabia’s security and territorial integrity, including that of the Haramain Sharifain, or the Two Holy Mosques.
He added that the message was directed at all actors involved in the escalation, whether directly or indirectly.
Maritime security and regional stability
On threats to maritime navigation in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait and the Strait of Hormuz, the DG ISPR said Saudi Arabia had established a multinational maritime defence coalition, with a Pakistani naval officer serving as its deputy commander.
He also called for unity among Muslim countries, warning that neither individual states nor the wider region would benefit from further escalation of conflicts.
“We need to stop attacking each other,” he said, adding that Pakistan had been conveying the same message to all parties since the outbreak of the US-Iran war.
Lt Gen Chaudhry said a negotiated settlement remained preferable, but if diplomacy failed and the situation turned into a military conflict, the Makkah alliance’s collective deterrence mechanism would come into play.
Responding to scepticism about the alliance, he said Pakistan’s relations with Saudi Arabia and its other partners had deep historical roots. He described the alliance’s evolution over a short period as significant.
He added that the door remained open to other countries that shared the member states’ principles of collective deterrence and objectives of regional peace and security.
Regarding reports that Egypt and Syria were interested in joining the alliance, he said any expansion would depend on decisions by the political, strategic and military leadership of the three existing members.
Joint defence arrangements
Earlier this month, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye convened an emergency meeting under the Makkah Defence Alliance and agreed to facilitate the rapid deployment of military forces and capabilities in Saudi Arabia.
Although the statement announcing the development did not identify a specific threat, the meeting took place against the backdrop of reported Houthi attacks on the kingdom.
Signed on August 7, the Makkah defence pact seeks to strengthen collective deterrence and establishes the principle that an attack against one member should be treated as an attack against all.
On September 18, Lt Gen Chaudhry said Pakistan would go to “any extent” to defend Saudi Arabia, describing Islamabad’s commitment to the kingdom’s security as unconditional.
Pakistan has maintained that its defence cooperation with Saudi Arabia and Turkiye is intended to deter aggression, protect territorial integrity and support regional stability rather than pursue offensive action.
