‘Pakistani troops in Saudi Arabia for decades,’ says DG ISPR in CNN interview

Pakistani troops have been deployed in Saudi Arabia for decades as part of longstanding defence ties between the two countries, Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said in an interview with CNN.

ISPR said Pakistan and Saudi Arabia had maintained defence relations for several decades.

“Pakistani troops, possessing capabilities across multiple domains, are already deployed in Saudi Arabia,” he said.

The DG ISPR said the Makkah Alliance was not something that had emerged “in a vacuum.”

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye had maintained sustained diplomatic, political, military and people-to-people relations, he said.

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye signed the Makkah Agreement on Aug. 7, which was subsequently designated the Makkah Defence Alliance. Under the agreement, the three countries committed to the principle that an attack on any one of them would be regarded as an attack on all three.