Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
Pakistan has said it will use “whatever means are available” to defend Saudi Arabia against Iran-backed Houthi rebels, in one of Islamabad’s clearest signals yet that it could become directly involved in the widening regional conflict.
Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, speaking during a visit to Rome on Tuesday, did not say whether Pakistani forces had already taken part in airstrikes. He said, however, that Pakistan’s military capabilities would be available to Saudi Arabia under a new mutual defence pact with Saudi Arabia and Turkey, while also saying Islamabad was pressing for negotiations to end the broader conflict involving Iran.
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When asked whether Pakistan had been involved in airstrikes against Iranian operators in Yemen, Asif told reporters: “I’m not going into detail, but obviously when I say that we are bound by this arrangement to defend Saudi Arabia, that means whatever means are available at our disposal, they’ll be available to Saudi Arabia also. I think that’s a categoric statement.” His response did not explicitly confirm Pakistani participation in any strikes, and he did not say whether Saudi Arabia had asked for assistance.
His remarks came days after the army chiefs of Pakistan, Turkey and Saudi Arabia met in Riyadh to discuss responses to Houthi attacks. Asif said the Houthis had stepped up missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia and had expanded their control along Yemen’s Red Sea coast. He said the Houthis had recently captured the port city of Mokha and several Red Sea islands, extending their reach towards the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a maritime route through which about 12 per cent of global trade passes. He also said they, along with allied militias in Iraq, had attacked Saudi oil facilities and tried to prevent Saudi tankers from using the strait.
Asif described the Houthis as aggressors and said Pakistan’s commitment to Saudi Arabia was clear. “Any enemy of Saudi Arabia is enemy of Pakistan. That should be very clear,” he said.
Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey signed the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement on August 7, saying that an attack on one member would be treated as an attack on all three. The three countries have described the pact as defensive and said it is not directed against any particular state. The agreement brings together Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan. Asif did not mention nuclear weapons or suggest they were part of Pakistan’s commitment to Saudi Arabia.
The fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis has become an early test for the alliance. The pact’s full text has not been released, and its command and operational structures are still being developed. Asif said the three countries were setting up a secretariat and putting the alliance’s framework in place. He said other countries had shown interest in joining, but there were no immediate plans to expand it.
Asif said the alliance reflected a belief among its members that existing security arrangements had failed to protect Gulf countries as the conflict involving Iran spread across the region. “Once you start a conflict, you cannot control the outcome of that conflict. You cannot control the trajectory of that conflict,” he said.
Iran has long supplied the Houthis with weapons and other assistance, though Tehran denies directing their military operations. Asif suggested the Houthis and some Iraqi militias might now act with substantial independence from Iran. “Some of these proxies, they become rogue,” he said.
Despite its willingness to support Saudi Arabia militarily, Pakistan has kept ties with Iran. Asif said Islamabad was also pushing for negotiations to end the wider conflict and supported efforts to revive a negotiated agreement over Tehran’s nuclear programme. He gave no details of Pakistan’s role in the latest efforts, though he said the country had earlier tried to position itself as a mediator with other countries in the region.
In April, Pakistan hosted rare direct talks between Iran and the United States in Islamabad. The two sides reached an interim agreement in June and committed to trying to reach a final deal within 60 days, but that deadline passed after hostilities resumed. Asif’s comments also came after top diplomats from Pakistan, Turkey and Saudi Arabia met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly to discuss implementing the new defence pact and coordinating a response to attacks targeting Mecca and other sites in Saudi Arabia.
Pakistan has thus signalled that it is ready to make its military capabilities available to Saudi Arabia under the new three-country defence pact, even as it says it wants negotiations to contain the wider conflict involving Iran.
With PTI Inputs
– Ends
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
