By Sumayya
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s chief army leaders on Friday supported a three-way defense deal with Saudi Arabia and Türkiye at a session led by army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, spoke out against Houthi assaults on the Kingdom and restated Islamabad’s pledge to the safety of Islam’s two holiest mosques in Makkah and Madinah.
The 277th Corps Commanders’ Conference at the army headquarters in Rawalpindi arrived a day after Pakistan’s military expressed its pledge to Saudi safety stood “absolute,” amid rocket and drone assaults by Yemen’s Iran-linked Houthi militia focusing on Saudi cities. The leaders likewise cautioned against domestic protests as jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s group sets up for an Oct. 4 march while holding talks with the state.
“The group welcomed the Makkah Joint Defense Agreement between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye, observing its help to long-running strategic and shared defense links,” the military’s media branch, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), expressed in a report.
“It strongly disliked Houthi assaults against Saudi Arabia, conveyed unity with the Kingdom and backed Pakistan’s pledge to the safety and honor of the Haramain Sharifain.”
The Makkah Joint Defense Agreement, signed by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye on Aug. 7, lays down that an armed assault against any of the three lands would be viewed as an assault against all.
On Thursday, military speaker Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry expressed Pakistan’s pledge to the Makkah alliance and to the safety and balance of Saudi Arabia stood “absolute,” though he expressed parameters of how the deal would be run were secret.
The Corps Commanders’ Conference arrived after the military chiefs of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye freshly met in Riyadh as the three lands persist to grow the structure of their defense alliance.
INTERNAL BALANCE
The leaders likewise “stressed the weight of internal balance” and cautioned against a return of the protests that tore through Pakistan on May 9, 2023, after Khan stood seized.
The caution arrives as Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) group sets up to launch a march on Oct. 4 pressing for his release and as the opposition and state hold talks targeted at lowering political friction.
“Any action to trigger unrest or build a 9th May like state, on any excuse whatsoever, will be handled with final power and rule of rule, without pause and bias,” the ISPR report expressed.
The military failed to name PTI or clearly link the caution to the intended march.
The state and opposition closed a initial round of talks on Friday without declaring a deal and remain due to meet again at 2 p.m. on Saturday. PTI expressed earlier on Friday that its march stayed on track.
The May 9 unrest broke out after Khan stood briefly seized in Islamabad in 2023, with protesters hitting military spots and alternate state buildings. Khan has denied claims that he stirred the violence, while PTI states files against him remain politically driven.
The leaders likewise checked the regional safety state and restated what they portrayed as Pakistan’s right to self-defense and to take targeted steps against militancy coming from Afghanistan.
The group expressed the Taliban chiefs carried duty for the outcomes of what it portrayed as backing militant violence “on behalf of India.”
Pakistan has repeatedly blamed Afghanistan’s Taliban heads of permitting militants to deploy Afghan land to launch assaults inside the country, claims Kabul denies.
The leaders praised intelligence-guided counter-terror steps but expressed military steps demanded to be matched by non-military steps, including local governance, public contact, breaking links between terror and criminal networks and strengthening police tools.
The session likewise restated Pakistan’s stance on the disputed Kashmir area and its backing for a solution in line with UN Security Council resolutions and the dreams of Kashmiris.
