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As the missiles are pounding the Saudi islands and Houthis are marching towards biggest oil hubs of the Gulf nation, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif rushed in for a statement. “If there is unprovoked aggression, or a spillover of whatever is happening in Yemen into Saudi Arabia, definitely the Mecca agreement will become operational,” he told Geo News. No ambiguity, he insisted. Within a day, the Foreign Office took the ambiguity back: “Pakistan has signed a joint defence agreement, which is a fact… But as of now, there is no discussion of this kind,” spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan said on September 10. Translation: operational, just not operating.