RAWALPINDI: DG-ISPR Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry has rejected claims that the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement complicates Pakistan’s position towards Iran, saying the pact is purely defensive and has no regional ambitions.
Speaking to Al Arabiya English, he said Pakistan was working to promote peace between Iran and the United States while maintaining a policy of “multi-alignment and multi-engagement” with countries around the world.
“We don’t have any personal or own objective in this dispute,” he said.
He added that Pakistan’s priority was to prevent the conflict from escalating and encourage the resolution of differences through peaceful means.
Pakistan confident in border security
Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif said Pakistan was confident in protecting its territorial integrity and sovereignty amid concerns that the conflict could spill over into the region.
“As far as our own borders, our own territorial integrity or sovereignty is concerned, we are very confident and very self-reliant on our security,” he said.
Defence pact has no offensive element
Rejecting concerns over the agreement’s impact on ties with Iran, the DG-ISPR said the partnership between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye was built on decades of strategic relations.
“It has got no offensive, no interference, no aggressive element. Not at all. And it is purely defensive in nature,” he said.
“There are no regional aspirations,” he added.
He said the agreement was based on collective deterrence and was complementary to Pakistan’s other international relationships.
Regarding a possible attack on one of the partners, he said the response would depend on the agreement’s operational arrangements and decisions by the three countries.
“How it will be done is for the three countries to decide. It is for them to know and for them to actualise it,” he said.