Pakistan vows to go to any extent to defend Saudi Arabia

“Pakistan fully stands with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, both diplomatically and physically,” Chaudhry said in an interview on Thursday. “And I would like to underscore here the word physically... We will go to any extent.”Chaudhry said Pakistan’s commitment extended to the protection of Saudi Arabia and Islam’s two holiest sites in Makkah and Madinah.

“There should be no doubt on that,” he said. “So, in a nutshell, we are there and we will continue to defend Kingdom of Saudi Arabia against any aggression.”“Our commitment to the Saudi security is unconditional,” Chaudhry said.

“It is it stems from an emotive, a deep rooted, historical and unbreakable bond between the people of Pakistan, between the people of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, between the political and the military leadership of the both countries.

Asked whether Riyadh had requested Pakistani troops, air-defence systems or direct participation against the Houthis, Chaudhry did not disclose whether a request had been made.

Chaudhry said: “The politico-military leadership of Pakistan remains in continuous communication with the esteemed leadership of this Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on all these matters.”He said Pakistan’s political leadership, Foreign Office and other officials were consulting regional governments to seek “a negotiated and peaceful outcome” to the wider crisis.

Chaudhry described the Islamabad MoU as “a consensus document which we think provides the only real pathway forward for getting out of this complex military situation in which we are there.”Asked whether Pakistan expected to bring Washington and Tehran back to negotiations soon, Chaudhry gave no timetable, saying Islamabad continued to search for common ground despite mistrust and what he described as “spoilers” and “detractors.”“So that effort keeps on going,” he said.