Pakistan has confirmed the presence of its troops in Saudi Arabia, with the country’s military spokesman saying the deployment is part of defence ties between the two countries that have continued for
several decades. This comes amid the Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia.
Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (DG ISPR) Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said Pakistani troops have been deployed in Saudi Arabia for decades and continue to perform various roles under the newly formed Mecca Pact.
Pakistani troops have been in Saudi Arabia for decades
Chaudhry said Pakistan and Saudi Arabia share a longstanding defence relationship, with Pakistani military personnel already present in the kingdom.
According to the DG ISPR, Pakistani forces in Saudi Arabia undertake various roles under the Makkah defence agreement. He confirmed that the presence of Pakistani troops is part of the decades-old defence cooperation between the two countries.
The confirmation comes under the newly formed Mecca Pact, officially known as the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement or Makkah Al-Mukarramah Pact for Joint Defence.
What is the Mecca Pact?
The pact was signed on August 7, by Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan in Mecca. It states that an armed attack on any one of the three countries will be treated as an attack on all three, creating a NATO Article 5-style collective defence commitment.
Under the collective defence clause, an attack on one member is regarded as an attack on all three, leading to consultations and a coordinated response.
However, the signatories have stressed that the agreement is defensive in nature. It is not intended to replace existing alliances or automatically require military intervention, with responses subject to consultation.
Joint exercises, intelligence sharing
The agreement also provides for the creation of a permanent secretariat in Riyadh. Lt Gen (Retd) Nauman Mahmood has been appointed as the alliance’s first secretary-general for a three-year term.
The pact envisages cooperation in areas including joint military exercises, intelligence sharing and defence-industrial collaboration. It also covers coordination on technologies such as drones, electronic warfare, artificial intelligence and air and missile defence.
Experts have described the pact as an effort by three “middle powers” to jointly address security concerns instead of relying solely on external guarantees. The arrangement comes amid regional uncertainty linked to the wider Iran-Israel conflict and perceived gaps in the Gulf security architecture.
While the pact is officially described as non-targeted and focused on stability, it is widely viewed as a deterrence signal primarily towards Iran and Israel.
Pact activated after Houthi attacks
The Mecca Pact saw its first activation this month following intensified Houthi missile and drone attacks on Saudi targets. The attacks included claims of strikes near Riyadh’s airport, an Aramco facility and power infrastructure near Medina.
Saudi Arabia subsequently convened an emergency meeting of the pact’s Strategic Political and Defence Committee. The three countries agreed to activate “deterrence measures” and begin the rapid deployment of Turkish and Pakistani military forces and defence capabilities to Saudi Arabia.
This marked the first invocation of the Mecca Pact. However, detailed troop numbers, mission mandates and command arrangements have not been fully disclosed publicly.
