Pakistan has announced it will not join Saudi Arabia's renewed military campaign in Yemen, reversing days of signals from Islamabad that suggested the country was seriously considering deploying forces alongside Riyadh and Yemeni government troops against Houthi rebels.
The abrupt about-face comes as the pace of the Saudi-backed offensive has slowed and Houthi forces have scored their first significant gains, capturing the strategic Red Sea port city of al-Mokha in the south. Just yesterday, Pakistan's defense minister indicated that senior government discussions were underway about the possibility of providing offensive support to the Saudi campaign in Yemen following Houthi attacks on Saudi territory. For a moment, it appeared the Mecca Accord (a kind of Middle Eastern NATO bringing together Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkey) was finally taking concrete form.
But the enthusiasm evaporated as quickly as it emerged. Pakistan's foreign minister has now delivered a statement that directly contradicts his defense counterpart's remarks from a day earlier.
"There is currently no discussion on the matter, and there are currently no intentions to take part in the fighting," the foreign minister declared categorically. It appears that officials in both Riyadh and Islamabad had hoped to use this moment to solidify the Mecca Accord's standing and activate the mutual defense clause embedded within it.
Yet when the accord met reality, reality won. Until recently, the Houthis appeared to be marching toward defeat, they had lost significant forces and strategic territory in the north, and some observers had already begun discussing the post-Houthi era. But the rebels have now launched a strategic operation in the south of the country, seizing the key coastal city of al-Mokha on the Red Sea.
Pakistani officials who had apparently believed a quick victory was within reach now seem to fear getting mired in a protracted conflict far from their borders, with their own forces at risk. They are rapidly stepping back.
When pressed by reporters about the mutual defense clause in the accord and whether it might be invoked, the foreign minister dismissed the question, explaining that the agreement is binding "at the right time" and refusing to elaborate further.
