ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday reaffirmed its commitment to defense agreements with Saudi Arabia amid escalating Houthi attacks on the Kingdom, saying it had taken steps to fulfill its obligations while calling for dialogue and de-escalation to resolve the conflict in Yemen.

The remarks follow a series of attacks by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi militia on Saudi civilian and energy infrastructure, including Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport, where a strike on Saturday killed 13 people and injured more than 300.

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed a bilateral defense pact last year in September, agreeing to treat aggression against either country as aggression against both. A subsequent agreement signed in Makkah in August 2026 brought Türkiye into a trilateral collective defense framework.

“On Makkah agreement, Pakistan is fully on board,” Foreign Office spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan told reporters at his weekly briefing in Islamabad. “Our government has taken appropriate steps which were required to be taken. And for the remaining operational part of deployment and action on ground, it is the domain of armed forces, the ISPR and more so the Makkah Joint Alliance Secretariate.”

Khan backed Saudi Arabia’s right to defend itself under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, which recognizes the inherent right of individual and collective self-defense.

“Pakistan fully supports this provision,” he said.

At the same time, he emphasized that Pakistan continued to support a diplomatic resolution to the conflict in Yemen, highlighting Islamabad’s position that regional security concerns should be addressed through dialogue and negotiations.

“Pakistan’s position on Yemen has been clear and consistent,” he said. “We support the sovereignty, territorial integrity, unity and independence of Yemen, and believe that the conflict can only be resolved through dialogue and through negotiations.”

The trilateral defense agreement, signed by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye, provides for closer military coordination and collective deterrence. The three countries also agreed to establish a joint secretariat in Riyadh to coordinate its implementation.

Pakistan has maintained close defense and security ties with Saudi Arabia for decades, including through military training, advisory support and cooperation between their armed forces. The more recent agreements have formalized those ties within broader collective defense arrangements.

Khan condemned the latest Houthi attack on Riyadh airport and reiterated Pakistan’s solidarity with Saudi Arabia, describing attacks on civilian populations and critical infrastructure as a grave threat to regional peace and security.

The spokesperson also expressed concern over the humanitarian and maritime consequences of the escalating conflict, including threats to commercial shipping in the Red Sea, and welcomed efforts by regional countries to restore peace.