> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.theglobalvoice.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Saudi Arabia Activates Defence-Pact Consultations Over Houthi Attacks - URL: https://www.theglobalvoice.com/saudi-arabia-activates-defence-pact-consultations-over-houthi-attacks/ - Published: 2026-09-25T04:29:04.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-25T04:29:04.000Z - Description: Saudi Arabia has activated consultations with Pakistan and Türkiye under their collective-defence pact after renewed Houthi missile and drone attacks. The three military chiefs will consider support for Riyadh, although no deployment of allied combat forces has been announced. - Author: TGV Desk - Tags: Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Diplomacy, conflict, Top Stories, The Day So Far, has-audio Saudi Arabia has activated consultations with Pakistan and Türkiye under their new trilateral defence pact after another wave of Houthi missile and drone attacks targeted the kingdom. The foreign ministers of the three countries met in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly and agreed to convene an urgent meeting of their military chiefs. The talks will examine what assistance Pakistan and Türkiye could provide under the [Makkah Joint Defence Agreement](https://www.theglobalvoice.com/the-irony-of-the-makkah-pact-saudi-arabia-is-now-reportedly-asking-israel-for-help/). Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan held the consultations with Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan at the Saudi mission to the United Nations. The ministers condemned attacks on Makkah and other civilian and economic targets, while affirming Saudi Arabia’s right to defend itself under [Article 51 of the UN Charter](https://legal.un.org/repertory/art51.shtml?ref=theglobalvoice.com). They also reviewed efforts to establish the pact’s permanent secretariat, committees and military working groups. The consultations followed another day of attacks from Yemen. The Houthis claimed to have launched dozens of missiles and drones at Saudi targets, while Saudi authorities said their air defences intercepted six ballistic missiles. Emergency warnings were issued for several areas, including Makkah, Jeddah and Yanbu, the kingdom’s main Red Sea oil-exporting port. No decision to deploy Pakistani or Turkish combat forces has been announced. Activating consultations does not automatically place the three countries at war. The immediate purpose of the process is to determine what assistance Saudi Arabia requires and what each partner is prepared to provide. Possible measures could include air-defence systems, interceptor missiles, intelligence sharing, surveillance, technical personnel, naval support or the deployment of defensive military units. Türkiye has already indicated that it is prepared to help meet Saudi Arabia’s technical military requirements. [The Makkah Joint Defence Agreement was signed on August 7 by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mecca%5FJoint%5FDefence%5FAgreement?ref=theglobalvoice.com). Its central provision states that an armed attack against one member will be treated as an attack against all three. The agreement has been compared with NATO’s collective-defence principle, but it does not yet possess NATO’s permanent command structure, integrated forces or established rules of engagement. The current consultations are therefore also a test of how the pact will operate during an actual security crisis. Pakistan had said earlier in September that no military response to the Houthi attacks had been discussed. The decision to arrange an urgent meeting of the three chiefs of staff represents a more formal step towards operationalising the agreement, although it remains short of direct intervention. --- The Houthis have warned Pakistan and Türkiye against joining Saudi military operations in Yemen. The group has expanded its attacks on Saudi cities, oil infrastructure and Red Sea shipping while strengthening its position in western Yemen and around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Saudi Arabia entered Yemen’s civil war in 2015 in support of the internationally recognised government after the Houthis captured the capital, Sanaa. Years of fighting ended without defeating the movement, which continues to control most of northern Yemen and much of the country’s population. The conflict has intensified again as part of the wider regional confrontation involving Iran. Tehran supports the Houthis politically and has supplied the movement with military technology, although it denies directing individual attacks. The trilateral consultations therefore mark an important threshold. Saudi Arabia is not yet asking its partners to enter the Yemen war, but it has begun using the machinery of the Makkah agreement to seek coordinated assistance. What Pakistan and Türkiye offer will determine whether the pact develops into an operational military alliance or remains primarily a declaration of political solidarity.