By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey will hold an emergency meeting of the committee overseeing their joint defence pact in Riyadh “very soon”, deputy prime minister has said, as Houthi attacks on Saudi territory push the new alliance towards its first real test.
Ishaq Dar, who is also foreign minister, told a press briefing on Friday that the full Strategic Political Defence Committee (SPDC) had agreed “in principle” to convene in the Saudi capital. He said it would examine the current situation and “ground reality”, particularly for Saudi Arabia. Details would be released only after the meeting.
The Makkah Accord was signed on 7 August and commits its members to treat an attack on one as an attack on all. The SPDC has three members from each country: the foreign minister, the defence minister and the army chief. It held its first meeting in Istanbul on 31 August, where it was agreed that Pakistan would initially run the alliance’s secretariat for three years.
Dar said the three army chiefs held a special meeting in Riyadh on 25 September. The foreign ministers had met a day earlier on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, he said, after Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia increased. The upcoming session is an emergency one, he said. The committee will meet again as planned at the end of October or the start of November.
Asked about the strike on Medina, Dar said Pakistan had already condemned it and called it “not acceptable”. The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said a drone attack hit a power distribution station supplying the Prophet’s Mosque, putting one transformer out of service without affecting the wider electricity network. The Houthis deny involvement, calling the accusation a lie.
The escalation is the most serious fighting between Riyadh and the Iran-aligned group since a UN-brokered truce in 2022. In early September, Houthi strikes on southern Saudi energy facilities injured at least 73 people, and the group has been attacking the kingdom since declaring a naval blockade in July.
Dar said he had spoken to Iran in detail about the attacks and reminded Tehran that Pakistan had a trilateral agreement to honour. Iran, he said, denied any association “both with the Houthis and with the Iraqi militia”. It advised that the Houthis be “engaged politically” rather than through “kinetic action”. Dar described this as “brainstorming between two foreign ministers” and a suggestion made “in all good faith”. Any decision would be taken by the three SPDC countries after the meeting, he said.
On possible expansion, Dar declined to name countries but said “at least six” wanted to join. That could not happen until the accord was “fully operational”, which would take at least a year, he said. The text itself is open to states that accept its principles. Pakistan’s Foreign Office said in August that it would welcome additional members.
Sailors freed from tanker
Dar also said four of the 10 Pakistani crew of the hijacked oil tanker MT Honour 25 had been “safely retrieved” and were due in Karachi on 3 October. He credited “sustained efforts” by the Foreign Office and Pakistan’s embassy in Djibouti. The four are Yasir Khan, Aqeel Khan, Amin bin Shams and Usman Ghani.
The bodies of three Pakistani crew who died, Rafi Ullah Khan, Syed Kashif Umer and Mahmood Ahmed Ansari, are being repatriated. Mr Dar said formalities were being “fast-tracked” and offered “heartfelt condolences” to the bereaved families.
Three Pakistanis, Imran Ali, Yasin Muhammad and Syed Yousuf Hussain, remain aboard with the captain. “We are actively coordinating with our friendly countries to facilitate their safe extraction,” Mr Dar said.
Armed pirates seized the Palau-flagged tanker off south-eastern Somalia on 21 April. It was carrying oil to Puntland, the semi-autonomous region of Somalia, with 17 crew, 10 of them Pakistani. Relatives had said they lost contact with the crew, who had by then been held for more than five months. A message from the Indonesian captain said the pirates had threatened to kill the crew if any military action was taken, and a relief trust said the pirates were demanding $1.9m.
Puntland Maritime Police Force units carried out a “planned operation” in the Dharin-Bar area of Bandar Beyla district on 29 September. The force said the vessel was now “safe and under the Puntland government’s control”. Twenty-one suspected pirates were detained and operations to find others continue. Before the raid, the pirates had killed five crew: three Pakistanis, one Myanmar national and one Indian, the force said. Reuters, citing Puntland state television, reported the detainees would be brought before a court.
Guterres visit
Dar said UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres had accepted an invitation to visit Pakistan, probably before his term ends on 31 December. The invitation came from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and Mr Dar called Mr Guterres a great friend of Pakistan who had played an “unforgettable” role in helping it through natural disasters. The programme will be announced by the government. “I think it will be a memorable visit,” he said.
According to the Prime Minister’s Office, the two men met at the General Assembly last week. They discussed regional and global issues, and Mr Guterres praised Pakistan’s role in the Middle East peace process.
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