Pakistan to stand by Saudi Arabia 'practically and diplomatically' if Yemen conflict escalates: Asif
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Wednesday said Pakistan would “practically and diplomatically” stand by Saudi Arabia against Yemen’s Houthi rebels if the situation escalated.
Earlier in the day, the Saudi-led coalition battling Yemen’s Houthis accused the rebels of targeting the holy city of Makkah, sparking outrage across the Muslim world and deepening the conflict roiling the region.
However, the Houthis swiftly rejected Riyadh’s report as a “lie” that it shot down a drone from the rebels heading towards Makkah.
“If the situation escalates, we will stand with Saudi Arabia, both practically and diplomatically,” he said while speaking on Geo News programme ‘Aaj Shehzaib Khanzada Ke Saath’.
Commenting on the Pakistan-Turkiye-Saudi Arabia trilateral agreement — the Makkah Defence Alliance — he affirmed that an agreement was in place.
However, he said that even if there had been no such agreement, Pakistan was bound by an “eternal agreement to respond if the holy sites come under attack”.
“There are some worldly agreements, too, and they have their own sanctity and obligations, but protecting the holy sites is our religious duty,” he said.
Asif maintained that Muslims around the world did not need an agreement to act if the holy sites in Makkah or Medina came under attack. “There is no need to activate any agreement,” he said.
The defence minister maintained that Pakistan would fulfil all its obligations under the Makkah Defence Alliance in accordance with the terms of the agreement between the three countries.
“There is absolutely no ambiguity,” he asserted.
Asked about any military or political engagement with the Houthis, Asif said he could not disclose details, adding that strategies at this level were not meant to be made public.
However, he reiterated that Pakistan was bound by the agreement.
“Under the trilateral agreement, if the territorial integrity of a country comes under threat, the agreement will be activated and the other two countries will proceed to protect it in fulfilment of their obligations,” he said. “The situation has arrived.”
On the US-Israeli war on Iran, Asif said it had become clear, a month into the conflict, that Israel’s calculations had not produced the expected results.
“Israel sucked America into this war as a combatant party, but under the present circumstances, the world and the region need to realise that Israel is the real culprit,” he said.
“Until Israel is confronted by a joint alliance, it will remain a threat to the region. The Zionist lobby also forces the US to join Israel’s wars.”
Sharing his personal view on possible Iranian support for the Houthis, he said Iran, as a state, might not be backing the group as it was already embroiled in another conflict in the Middle East.
“This would be a diplomatic error if Iran were to take the side of the Houthis, but the chances are minimal. Escalating the conflict into another theatre is not a wise decision and could turn it into a wider conflict,” Asif said.
Fresh fighting between the Houthis and the Yemeni government has dragged in Riyadh, with the Houthis declaring a maritime blockade on the kingdom and targeting its ships in the Red Sea.
Last week’s lightning offensive saw the group seize control of the entirety of Yemen’s Red Sea coast and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a vital artery for Saudi oil exports as the wider Middle East war chokes off the Strait of Hormuz strategic shipping route.
The joint defence pact, known as the Makkah Defence Alliance, was signed on August 7 between Pakistan, Turkiye and Saudi Arabia, and provides that an attack on one member state would be treated as an attack on all.
Its inaugural meeting was held in Istanbul on Aug 31, where it was decided that Pakistan would initially head the alliance’s secretariat for three years.
