🚨 The Houthis have crossed the one line that could bring Pakistan directly into their war. By launching ballistic missiles and drones into Saudi Arabia itself, striking around Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jazan and Najran, the Houthis have created the first serious test of the month-old Mecca Joint Defense Agreement between Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey. Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has already warned that unprovoked spillover onto Saudi territory could make the agreement operational, saying Pakistan would honor its commitments if required. And this red line predates the new pact. 🛡️ In 2015, Pakistan refused to enter the Yemen war but explicitly drew the line at attacks on Saudi territory. The Houthis have now crossed precisely that threshold. 🛡️ Pakistani forces are already stationed in Saudi Arabia. Pakistan would not need to invade Yemen. Additional air defenses, intelligence support, drones or limited strikes against Houthi launch sites in northern Yemen could constitute meaningful involvement. 🛡️ Saudi Arabia is economically critical to Pakistan, through deposits, oil arrangements and billions in remittances. Signing a defense agreement and then doing nothing after Saudi territory is attacked would carry its own political and strategic cost. 🛡️ Pakistan also has major maritime and energy interests at stake. Continued Houthi escalation around the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb directly threatens shipping and energy routes important to Pakistan. This could prove to be a major strategic miscalculation by the Houthis. They are already facing renewed advances by Yemeni government forces on multiple fronts. Adding Pakistan’s large, nuclear-armed military to the forces opposing them would dramatically widen the pressure they are facing. It would also create a serious problem for the Islamic Republic. Pakistan has spent considerable effort balancing relations with Iran against its deep security and economic relationship with Saudi Arabia. An Iranian proxy attacking Saudi territory forces Pakistan toward a choice the Islamic Republic would rather it never have to make. And if Pakistan does nothing, the alternative is damaging in a completely different way. The Mecca Pact risks being exposed as paper during its first major test. The Houthis have therefore turned another missile attack into something much bigger. Either they help drag Pakistan into the war against them, or they expose one of the region’s newest mutual-defense agreements as hollow. They may have fired at Saudi Arabia, but the consequences could reach far beyond it.