ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said on Friday that the Makkah Alliance had been established for defensive purposes, rejecting media reports and speculations suggesting that Pakistani fighter jets had participated in cross-border airstrikes against the Houthi militia in Yemen.
Foreign Office spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan said this here at his weekly press briefing. He reaffirmed that the Makkah Alliance is a defensive arrangement and is aimed at protecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of its member states.
The Foreign Office clarified that the alliance was established for defensive purposes and that its forces would not cross into Yemen to carry out attacks against the Houthis.
The spokesperson said the alliance’s members —Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye — have agreed to move towards the practical implementation of their collective defence commitments, strengthen military coordination and enhance their capacity to respond to security threats.
The Strategic Political and Defence Committee of the Makkah Alliance, which met in Riyadh on October 5, reviewed the evolving regional security situation and strongly condemned attempts to target Makkah and Madinah, along with attacks on civilian populations, cities and economic infrastructure inside Saudi Arabia, the spokesperson added.
He said that Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, and Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Syed AsimMunir attended the October 5 meeting.
Responding to questions about military deployments, the spokesperson said Pakistan had maintained a military presence in Saudi Arabia in various capacities since 1982, including training and logistical arrangements. Following the signing of the Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia last year, further deployments had taken place. The spokesperson said future mobilisation would be determined according to operational requirements and decisions taken through the alliance’s established framework.
The Foreign Office also emphasised that Pakistan’s security concerns were closely linked to the situation in Afghanistan. Islamabad’s participation in the eighth meeting of the Moscow Format Consultations on Afghanistan, held in Moscow on October 5, provided another opportunity to raise concerns about militant groups operating from Afghan territory.
Pakistan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Ambassador Mohammad Sadiq, and its ambassador to Kabul represented the country at the Moscow meeting. According to the spokesperson, Pakistan participated constructively but could not support a joint statement that failed to adequately reflect its concerns over terrorism emanating from Afghanistan.
The spokesperson said the Afghan Taliban delegation had objected to language on terrorism that had been accepted in the previous year’s joint statement. Pakistan maintained that the issue was substantive rather than merely a disagreement over wording, arguing that attacks originating from Afghan territory posed a serious threat to neighbouring countries, particularly Pakistan.
Islamabad also rejected allegations by Afghanistan’s foreign minister that Pakistan supported the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), reiterating its position that the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and other militant organisations were operating from safe havens in Afghanistan. SajjadHaider Khan said Pakistan had conveyed information about the locations of militants to the Afghan authorities and described its military strikes as precise operations against locations allegedly being used to plan and facilitate attacks against Pakistan.
The Foreign Office urged the Afghan authorities to take responsibility for preventing their territory from being used for militant activities, saying that improved security cooperation would help create conditions for better relations between the two neighbouring countries.
At the same time, the FO Spokesperson stressed that the absence of a joint statement at the Moscow Format meeting should not undermine the importance of continued regional dialogue.
On the broader regional situation, the spokesperson reiterated Pakistan’s preference for diplomacy, dialogue and de-escalation, while maintaining that diplomatic efforts must be accompanied by a willingness from all sides to address security concerns. Pakistan, the spokesperson said, remained committed to efforts aimed at reducing regional tensions and achieving negotiated solutions to ongoing conflicts.
Regional developments highlight Pakistan’s dual focus on strengthening collective defence arrangements with Saudi Arabia and Türkiye while pressing Afghanistan to address Islamabad’s concerns over cross-border terrorism.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026