Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (DG ISPR) Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said that the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement (MJDA) was purely defensive in nature and "has no offensive intent", warning that any direct or indirect attack on any of its three member states would trigger a collective response. "So once you have this collective deterrence, what it does is that it gives a very strong and clear message to those elements of instability, of chaos in the region, that if you directly or indirectly wage this war against any of these three countries, then the response will be collective," Chaudhry said during an interview with Independent Arabia on Sunday. The statement came amid escalating tensions in the Middle East following a series of missile and drone attacks by Yemen's Houthi group on Saudi Arabia, which have killed at least 17 people and injured 333 others, according to the Saudi-led coalition. The attacks have targeted key civilian and energy infrastructure, including Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport and oil facilities, disrupting air travel and raising concerns over regional security. Pakistan has repeatedly condemned the attacks and reaffirmed its solidarity with Saudi Arabia, reiterating its commitment to safeguarding the kingdom's sovereignty, territorial integrity and security. Islamabad has also emphasised the importance of protecting holy sites and pledged continued support for Saudi Arabia's defence amid growing regional instability. The military spokesperson reaffirmed Pakistan's commitment to safeguarding Saudi Arabia's sovereignty, territorial integrity and the security of holy mosques, expressing hope that collective deterrence would prevent further aggression. However, he warned that if deterrence failed, it would have to be re-established through all means available to the three member states of the Makkah Defence Alliance. "The Saudis' sovereignty and territorial integrity, security, and foremost, the security of the Haramain Sharifain is paramount. It's non-negotiable. It's absolute as far as Pakistan is concerned. So once we say that, whatever support is needed to do that is being provided and will be provided," he said. Speaking about the Makkah Defence Alliance, Chaudhry said operational details of military alliances were not disclosed publicly for security reasons. "If you want to go into the domains, specifics, quantification, no alliance does that. No military does that. Because there is operational confidentiality. There are tactical, sub-tactical details, which are never made public," he added. Regarding Pakistan's coordination with Saudi Arabia amid the Houthis' military gains, Chaudhry was asked whether Islamabad's support would remain purely defensive. "The coordination between Pakistan and the Saudis is in all domains, and if you're talking specifically of the military domain, it has been there for decades. We have coordinated with each other. The coordination dates back before the Makkah alliance, and it is there right now," he said. The coordination, Chaudhry added, was in "multiple domains" and would continue. Asked about his reaction to the Houthis targeting Saudi Arabia, specifically the holy sites, Chaudhry noted that Pakistan's reaction "from the streets, from a young boy or girl, up to our military leadership is one of anger." He added, "Our reaction is that why anyone in their right mind would attack or threaten Saudi Arabia and the holy places or even give an impression of threatening the holy places." That is why, he said, "there can be no negotiations, there cannot be any ifs and buts." Read: Pakistan committed to 'negotiated and peaceful outcome' between US, Iran: DG ISPR Chaudhry noted that the message Pakistan would like to give regarding the Houthis' targeting of mosques and the King Khalid Airport was already presented by the political leadership and Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff, Field Marshal Asim Munir. "The communications have been very clear, and I would just like to reiterate: the message is that the Muslims need to unite; we don't need to fight." He noted that no advantage came to any country which "vertically or horizontally" escalated the conflict. "We need to stop attacking each other," Chaudhry said, adding that this is what Pakistan's political and military leadership had been trying to do. According to the spokesperson, "We need to come to a negotiated outcome." If this failed, he said, then "this collective deterrence, this instrument of collective deterrence of the Makkah alliance will come into play, as it is coming into play." Referring to the defensive nature of the pact, Chaudhry noted that the leadership of all three countries was "absolutely clear" that the alliance had no offensive intent. "It is purely defensive, so that's how it is and that's how it will remain," he said. The spokesperson said that the alliance had evolved in a very short period of time, which he said was "phenomenal." He explained that it was phenomenal "because a meeting of three minds, for collective deterrence, and the three minds, the three countries that have met and joined, they have decades, even centuries of relationship based on mutual trust and respect." The alliance, he said, was "not out of the blue," as relations between the three countries went "way back." DG ISPR stated that Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkiye "believe in peace, stability, and prosperity for their people, as well as in the region," adding that the "foundation is so strong, the logic is so powerful that that is why you have seen how quickly it has evolved." He noted that the alliance now had a general secretariat and had announced a general secretary, along with formulating a Strategic Political and Defence Committee which comprises the foreign ministers, the defence ministers and the services chief. "The communication is very transparent and clear about what the pact says, what the intentions are, and its manifestations on the ground are also already there," Chaudhry said, noting that the sceptics "also have a job so let them do their job." Regarding plans to expand the alliance if any countries expressed interest in joining, Chaudhry stated that the political and military leadership of the alliance had "already made itself very clear that this alliance is not only restricted to these three countries." He added that the alliance "is defensive in nature. It does not displace, replace, or abrogate any existing military-to-military relations or agreements or arrangements with any other countries." "The alliance remains open to all those countries that believe in collective deterrence, peace, stability and security of the region, who have a common belief of the aspirations of regional security and the way the alliance is manifesting itself on the ground," he said. However, he noted that the decision on the process and timing of potential expansion was for the leadership of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkiye. Further, he clarified that the leaderships would also decide on any conditions, aspirations or commonalities for joining the pact. Responding to reports of Egypt and Syria expressing interest in joining the alliance, Chaudhry noted, "It is in layers; we are at the operational level - we're at the operational arm of this alliance which is to be implemented when decided by the political, strategic, and military leadership." He added, "The decision of who to come, when to come, how to come and join in the alliance is at that level." Noting that the alliance was "not country-specific," Chaudhry noted that it was based on principles of peace, stability and regional security. "Any actor which threatens that peace, stability and security, it automatically interacts with this collective deterrence mechanism that has been established," the military spokesperson said. Asked whether Islamabad had given any warning to Iran over the Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, Chaudhry emphasised that "for months, the politico-military leadership of Pakistan has been interacting with the players involved in this conflict, including Iran, with the singular intent of restraint and to reduce the temperature and bring the parties to a negotiated, peaceful outcome." Read More: Pakistan condemns Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, calls for immediate halt at UN He added, "All our interactions and conversations with the parties are based on dialling down the escalation, and that is what we are doing and will continue to do." Regarding the escalation of the Houthi-Saudi Arabia conflict, Chaudhry compared it to a "sinusoidal pattern", saying that the conflict "goes down and then the agents of chaos come into play and then they take the ante up, and then the pragmatic forces, they understand that this escalation is going nowhere." He added that parties like Pakistan, "who strongly believe in peace and sustained peace, which is based on a conviction of peace," then "play their part to dial down the escalation, to talk to the forces that this escalation that you are trying to bring up, it is not getting you anywhere, it is not going to resolve this conflict." "Whether you expand it to the Houthis, whether you expand it to other places, it doesn't serve anything; it only serves those who are interested in chaos in the region," he said. The military spokesperson also noted that it did not serve the interests of Muslims. "At the same time, you have seen through our forces, through our statements, through our acts, and through our operational employment, that Pakistan has been giving very strong signals that this collective deterrence is at play, has already been actualised, and we will take all necessary steps for the security and territorial integrity of Saudi Arabia and the holy places," he said. "That message is going to everyone," Chaudhry said. Asked whether the Houthis would listen to such a message, Chaudhry noted that Pakistan had already been dealing with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Kharjis, saying that "these non-state actors, they don't behave like states." He added, "Their conception actually stems from a concept of acting as proxies for others. How they're going to behave, that's a difficult thing to fathom and to predict." However, he stated that one thing was clear "that they behave and respond only to clear communication and where the intent is absolute and there is no hesitation," adding that on part of the Makkah alliance "there is no hesitation in our communication to them." Regarding the possibility of providing direct military support to the Yemeni government, Chaudhry said that he didn't know whether Islamabad had received an official request, but noted that the government would evaluate and respond to any request. On hostilities between the United States and Iran escalating after the US midterms, Chaudhry stated, "The concern of escalation is always there." Concluding, Chaudhry noted that the developments in the region were "more or less showing that the countries in the region are coming closer together for regional security, collective security, and peace and stability, looking towards each other, holding each others hands for the peace and prosperity of the respective people in the region."