Pakistan on Thursday said it remained committed “in intent and spirit” to implementing the Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement with Saudi Arabia, as well the trilateral Makkah Defense Alliance that includes Turkiye.
Addressing a weekly press briefing, Foreign Office spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan said the modalities of “when, how, where and what force” would be used against what objectives required “operational confidentiality.”
On what diplomatic efforts Pakistan had undertaken to “de-escalate and defuse” the Houthi issue, he reaffirmed that Islamabad believed that peace and stability was in the best interest of the region and beyond. Dubbing the blockade of Bab al-Mandeb “exceptionally serious,” he urged the Houthis to “stop their activities.”
However, he stressed, Pakistan did not believe in coercive measures and was focused on bringing peace and stability through dialogue and diplomacy.
The statement follows renewed tensions in the Middle East, with Yemen’s Houthi rebels carrying out attacks in Saudi Arabia over the past week. A day earlier, a Saudi-led coalition battling Houthis had accused the rebels of targeting the holy city of Makkah, sparking outrage across the Muslim world. However, the Houthis had rejected this.
UNGA
During the briefing, the spokesperson confirmed that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif would lead Pakistan’s delegation at the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York next week. He said Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and several federal ministers would accompany the premier.
In his address to the UNGA, said Khan, the prime minister would “highlight Pakistan’s perspective on regional and global developments, reaffirming the importance of dialogue, diplomacy and restraint and peaceful resolution of issues.” He said the premier would also outline Pakistan’s priorities on sustainable development, climate change, counter-terrorism, Islamophobia, global economic challenges, U.N. reforms and issues concerning the Global South.
He would also draw attention to the situation in India-held Kashmir and Palestine, the spokesperson added.
On the sidelines of the summit, per Khan, P.M. Sharif would participate in high-level events and hold bilateral engagements with world leaders and the U.N. secretary general. He would highlight “Pakistan’s commitment to multilateralism, the U.N. Charter, regional peace and international cooperation,” said the spokesperson.
Malicious campaign
To a question, the spokesperson derided as a “malicious media campaign” reports in India alleging Pakistani Sikh pilgrims were prevented from traveling to India for religious rituals. “It was reported that the pilgrims were not allowed to board the plane, which is not correct,” he said. “We were not aware that the Indian High Commission had issued these visas, and the visas were not covered under the 1974 bilateral protocol that exists between Pakistan and India,” he said, explaining the protocol’s objective was to facilitate visits to shrines between both countries.
Khan said the visas were issued “independently of any coordination.” Noting India’s “exceptionally restrictive visa regime,” he said Pakistan was committed to “extending a warm welcome to Sikh pilgrims in Pakistan, including from India.” He noted the number of visas issued to Sikh pilgrims over various religious occasions, stating the “numbers speak for themselves.”
He noted that India had barred its Sikh pilgrims from traveling to Pakistan in 2025, adding Islamabad was ready to welcome Sikh pilgrims through the Kartarpur corridor “as and when India allows them because it has been closed from the Indian side and not Pakistan.”
To another question, he said the Indian charge d’affaires had represented his country at the 12th meeting of the Heads of Border Services of the Competent Authorities of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). “Participation is there, and we hope that participation will continue because the broader objective is peace and security and fighting terrorism, and it is a common challenge for both countries,” he said.
On India’s response to Pakistan and China operationalizing a joint mechanism for managing their common border, the spokesperson rejected Delhi’s “baseless and illegally untenable assertions” on the development and the Joint Boundary Demarcation Commission.
“China is not only our neighbor but an all-weather strategic corporate partner. Our ironclad ties have withstood the test of time,” he said. He stressed that the 1963 agreement was “valid,” adding it was a “mockery of international law that India spoke of legality in an attempt to challenge the validity of the border commission.”
He urged India to “carry out its own introspection” over actions in Occupied Kashmir “instead of advancing fictitious territorial claims.”