The Mecca Pact’s First Test Has Exposed Its Central Weakness

[Mighty_Dragon_Strike]

This thread should be called "jumping the gun" on the Mecca Pact.

It is premature to judge the Mecca Pact just because an incident has come up when the pact has not even been operationalized. This is like asking/suggesting, why did NATO pact not do more to aid US in its Korean War efforts (not that Korea was in the North Atlantic theater), but the point is that even if NATO did focus on operations in the Korean peninsula, having only been founded in 1949, it would have struggled to help in a meaningful manner by the time the Korean War arrived for the Americans because it was not fully operationalized with capabilities put in place to counter potential threats.

The same applies to the Mecca pact. There is a LOT that needs to be planned/operationalized at the theater/tactical level. The only thing that has been worked out is the strategy and Pakistan is already helping Saudis tangibly even as we debate this issue.

We need to watch this space over the next few years. The Houthi problem has to be solved diplomatically while strengthening the Saudi air defense posture. I am pretty sure within weeks, the air defense grid on the Saudi side will be strengthened to address the Houthi missile and Drone threat. It goes without saying, this is invaluable experience for Pakistan and Turkey alike.

there are always enough excuses!
there are always enough impediements
(there is always no hurry to protect, Pak interests!)

how I see this, is, crisis managed to break the reality


a crisis, which should not even exist in the presence of such might powers of this region!

not just me, any sane person with an iota of intelligence, would say the same!

 

[Raj-Hindustani]

Yes, Saudi twitter accounts alongside Israeli and wider Zionist bots.

Sorry, no Twitter account – the Saudi government.. thay claimed it

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/16/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-houthi-fighter-jet-mecca-drone.html

 

[kmc_chacko]

If attacking Mecca is not a red line what is the red line, can anyone elaborate

 

[Master Chief]

Sorry, no Twitter account – the Saudi government.. thay claimed it

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/16/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-houthi-fighter-jet-mecca-drone.html

Read your own link properly. Ansarullah has quite vigorously denied this attack. Why would they deny such an attack if they had actually committed it? False flags are frequent in this conflict because it serves a certain country's interests to perpetuate and expand this war. You may recall Iran denying long range attacks against Turkiye some months ago - the inference of who was behind that false flag is similar.

Mercifully, Pakistan understands such games very well, given our experience with a certain neighbour who deploys the same tactic.

 

[Master Chief]

If attacking Mecca is not a red line what is the red line, can anyone elaborate

Again, denied by Ansarullah. False flagging is a terrible strategy against those who recognise it from a mile off.

 

[Cipher212]

Considering how lazy all the countries in this pact are. It will take decades to come up with a framework under which the militaries operate together and can just deploy to each others territories on a whim and then most importantly, be effective.

And this is all despite Pakistan Turkey Saudi regularly exercising with each other.

 

[atmi_bum]

Considering how lazy all the countries in this pact are. It will take decades to come up with a framework under which the militaries operate together and can just deploy to each others territories on a whim and then most importantly, be effective.

And this is all despite Pakistan Turkey Saudi regularly exercising with each other.

The Saudis (and the Gulf states) are the weakest link here. Besides money, they can offer little else. The Saudis have been fighting the Houthis since 2014. Aside from a ceasefire, they have very little to show for it.

I doubt the Houthis can seriously hurt the Saudis, but they will test them and this new pact. They may not respond today, but what about later?

 

[Starlord]

The Saudis (and the Gulf states) are the weakest link here. Besides money, they can offer little else. The Saudis have been fighting the Houthis since 2014. Aside from a ceasefire, they have very little to show for it.

I doubt the Houthis can seriously hurt the Saudis, but they will test them and this new pact. They may not respond today, but what about later?

Dude you do realize that this MDA is signed 2 months ago right? there hasn't been enough time for countries to make Strategies to how and what to do in situation where a country is attack by either a foreign country or fighting a civil war. If KSA is attacked (Civilians) after 2-3 years of MDA then people criticism is justified, but right now its just criticism just for the sake of criticism. Such agreements/PACTS takes time develop, lots of things and details needs to be talked out before nations get involved in kinetic options.

 

[hasssanali8998]

Saudi telling the lie?

kinda
houthis trageted a air base ( taif i think)
so saudis gave notice to cities in the drones flighpath incase of debris from intercpetion , just precuation

 

[Goenitz]

there are always enough excuses!
there are always enough impediements
(there is always no hurry to protect, Pak interests!)

how I see this, is, crisis managed to break the reality


a crisis, which should not even exist in the presence of such might powers of this region!

not just me, any sane person with an iota of intelligence, would say the same!

Sure, Pak cannot aid physically due to low morale, new theatre, long-term strategy, etc. Also, the PLC is weak like ANF in Afghanistan (perhaps ANF was better).
The issue is that Mandab is a choke point. Soon, the West would react, and we can wet our beak.
To solve it diplomatically (via Oman and Iran), the Houthis would agree only if Iran or Palestine is given concessions.

 

[Goenitz]

Dude you do realize that this MDA is signed 2 months ago right? there hasn't been enough time for countries to make Strategies to how and what to do in situation where a country is attack by either a foreign country or fighting a civil war. If KSA is attacked (Civilians) after 2-3 years of MDA then people criticism is justified, but right now its just criticism just for the sake of criticism. Such agreements/PACTS takes time develop, lots of things and details needs to be talked out before nations get involved in kinetic options.

it is not a proper country or army against which PA has to fight, and need time. Pak cannot be involved due to Iran, the local Shia population and jeopardising entire borders except with China.

 

[Mighty_Dragon_Strike]

Sure, Pak cannot aid physically due to low morale, new theatre, long-term strategy, etc. Also, the other
The issue is that Mandab is a choke point. Soon, the West would react, and we can wet our beak.
To solve it diplomatically (via Oman and Iran), the Houthis would agree only if Iran or Palestine is given concessions.

we can help saudis, when it comes to defense, after all, it is a leader.
(after all, KSA is a muslim country with very important places and cities)

but what I cant fathom is, why are we so dependent not only on 1. oil 2. also dependent on a particular route!

this much incompetence cannot be coincidence!


help saudia, but protect our interests as well!

if not, please dont fool the public

 

[Starlord]

it is not a proper country or army against which PA has to fight, and need time. Pak cannot be involved due to Iran, the local Shia population and jeopardising entire borders except with China.

Yeah because we have crazies in our country that will start attacking Pakistani's for Iranians or Houthis who don't give a F about them. But I think people expecting MDA to get into action just within 2 months of signing it is really stupid, shows the low IQ these people have. Like i said these PACT's takes time to develop, and KSA has to officially ask for military help from Pakistan/Turkiye in order for them to send, its not like Pakistan become Maula Jutt and start throwing Gandasay and Axe at Houthis, Pakistan can only provide air cover and do some Air strikes which KSA is very well capable of doing by themselves, they have the air power, bombs and they just have to keep dropping from the same distance, real test of MDA is to bring an end to this escalation via peaceful means.

 

[Mr X]

Saudi Arabia itself is not doing any ground invasion against Yemen. So what can allied nations do?

Saudi Arabia has shown a lot of patience against both Iran and the Houthis. There is a thin line between being patient and coward so I think Saudi Arabia should act now to suppress these Houthi terrorists

 

[Owaiz]

It has been an year since the regime signed the bilateral defence pact and decades since the generals have been taking Saudi money in return for an implicit security guarantee . So, all this pact about the Makkah Pact not having been operationalised yet is just a red herring.

The truth is that it would be disastrous for Pakistan to get involved in the Yemen war and even the generals know it. The problem is that because the regime has no domestic legitimacy and cant survive without international validation, it has been engaging in performative peacokery and double dealing all the international partners in the process. All this word salad like "regional net security provider", " global mediator", "favorite Field Marshal" , "JD Vance's second most favourite brown person", "Islamabad Talks" , etc is meant only to distract attention from the security, economic and political disasters at home.

To ensure their short-term survival, they have taken extremely high risks in assuming certain scenarios would never come to pass and made promises they are incapable of fulfilling and never ever intended to . Ultimately, the chickens have come home to roost and almost all traditional partners are pissed off.

Staying out of the Yemen war is the right decision, but it would upset the al Sauds less if it had not been preceded by the shambolic dog and pony show we have had to endure over the last few months.