The Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (DG ISPR), Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhary, while  speaking in an interview with Al Arabiya News, said that the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement is not directed against any country but will be used for defensive purposes only.  DG ISPR said that the Makkah Defence Pact formalises decades of close relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, establishing cooperation in the field of collective defence. He said the pact was “defensive” in nature and carried no aggressive or regional ambitions.  “It is a collective deterrence,” the DG ISPR said, adding that the agreement was intended to be complementary to the three countries’ existing bilateral and international relationships. 

The DG ISPR added that the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement between Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan strengthens the three countries’  longstanding strategic ties and their collective defence capabilities. He said that the alliance between Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan was focused on regional stability, could include new partners, and that the agreement was complementary to Pakistan’s strategic relationship with China. He said Pakistan’s policy of maintaining multifaceted relations enabled it to play a unique role in mediating between Tehran and Washington.

The Pakistan Army spokesperson also reiterated that Pakistan would continue counter-terrorism operations against attacks originating from Afghan territory. He said such arrangements generally do not publicly disclose the mechanisms through which their defence commitments would be implemented, describing those details as part of operational and security planning. “What you are asking is the ‘how’ part,” he said, arguing that the practical details of how the countries would respond to aggression would be for the three governments and militaries to determine. Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhary maintained his statement, saying that the agreement should be understood primarily through its stated defensive purpose. 

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)