Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said Islamabad will use “whatever means are available” to defend Saudi Arabia against the Houthis, according to Arab News.

Speaking in Rome, he declined to say whether Pakistani forces had already taken part in airstrikes, according to Arab News. The pledge is presented as an obligation under the new mutual defence pact, under which Islamabad would make “whatever means” available to Riyadh if it faces a Houthi threat, according to Al Jazeera.