Pakistan’s military agreement with Saudi Arabia and Turkey, known as "Mecca Agreement," is purely defensive in nature and is not expected to affect relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran, he emphasized.
Speaking in an interview with English Al-Arabiya, the spokesman added this agreement is formulated as a joint defensive shield aimed at establishing regional peace, stability, and security; it is not intended for aggression or offensive action.
He also emphasized that the agreement would not complicate Pakistan's relations with Iran, nor would it affect the country's strategic ties with China.
In response to a question about what action Pakistan would take if a member state of the agreement were attacked, the Pakistan Army spokesperson stated that the operational details of the defense agreement would not be released.
No country or military force publicly discloses the details of its military operations or the manner in which it would fulfill specific defense obligation, he said, adding that practical response to an attack would be determined by Pakistan itself, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey.
There are numerous defense agreements worldwide that entail specific commitments, yet the manner in which military operations are conducted within their framework is not publicly disclosed, Chaudhry stressed.
He added that the goal of this agreement is to establish stability, peace, and security in the region, not to form a coalition exclusive to Muslim countries.
“There is nothing aggressive. There are no regional aspirations. It is a collective deterrence, and it is complementary because all these countries have independent relations with other alliances, other countries, other blocks,” he said.
Chaudhry said the agreement is not directed against any particular country and should be viewed as complementary to Pakistan’s existing international relationships.
Asked whether the new defense arrangement could complicate Pakistan’s relations with Iran, Chaudhry rejected the suggestion.
“I don’t think, not at all,” he said, describing the agreement as the product of decades-old strategic relationships between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
He said Pakistan’s relations with Saudi Arabia and Turkiye have not “come out of the blue”, but are based on longstanding political, military, cultural and people-to-people ties.
“These relationships that Pakistan has with both these countries are special,” he said. “They are based on people-to-people relationship. There is an emotional connection, there is a cultural connection, there is a government-to-government, a military connection which spans over decades.”
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