India, Sept. 10 -- The press conference question was simple enough: if the Houthis attack Saudi Arabia again, would Pakistan intervene?

FO Spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan did not say no. At Thursday's weekly briefing, he said the Makkah Defence Agreement was "purely defensive in nature," designed for deterrence, not deployment. Expansion to new members was "not on the cards," he added, and Pakistan, Turkiye and Saudi Arabia still needed "more time" to properly stand up the organisation they had signed into existence five weeks earlier.

The statement landed at an awkward moment. The day before, Houthi forces struck four Saudi cities, wounding dozens of civilians and setting two Aramco facilities ablaze in the most serious attack on the ...