Pakistan’s top military spokesperson has described the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye as a defensive arrangement, stressing that the pact carries no “regional aspirations” and is intended as a form of collective deterrence.
“It is defensive, as the word also implies. There’s nothing aggressive. There are no regional aspirations. It is a collective deterrence,” Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said in an interview with Al Arabiya English on Wednesday.
The trilateral agreement, signed by Islamabad, Riyadh and Ankara on August 7, provides a framework for collective security and defence cooperation among the three countries.
Pact described as complementary
Questions over how the agreement could be applied arose amid renewed Houthi attacks on Saudi cities and energy infrastructure, adding another theatre to the wider Middle East conflict.
Responding to a question about the pact, Lt Gen Chaudhry described it as “complementary” and said the three countries would continue to maintain their independent relationships with other alliances, countries and international blocs.
“So this mutual defence agreement is complementary in nature. It is not competing with any other relationship of all these countries with each other,” he said.
The ISPR chief’s remarks indicate that the agreement is not intended to replace or undermine the existing defence and diplomatic relationships maintained individually by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye.
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Operational details remain classified
Asked how Pakistan would respond if one of the three countries came under attack, Lt Gen Chaudhry said the operational mechanisms of the agreement were classified.
He explained that countries generally do not publicly disclose the specific military procedures through which defence commitments would be implemented.
“What you’re asking is the ‘how part’ of how we are going to defend Pakistan against any aggression,” he said, adding that such details were normally covered by operational and security classifications.
Lt Gen Chaudhry said the three countries would determine how the mutual defence commitments would be implemented if required.
“So no country does that. So even so, what you’re asking is how it will be done. It is for the three countries to decide, and it is for them to know and for them to actualise it,” he said.
