The Zimbabwean parliament on Wednesday ratified the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Mutual Defense Pact which seeks to provide for collective security among member states of the regional group.

Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa presented the pact on behalf of Defense Minister Sydney Sekeramayi.

Under the pact, any armed attack against one of the members would be considered an attack on all, and attract an immediate collective SADC response, Chinamasa said, adding that it was of vital importance for the region to respond collectively to a security threat a member country or countries faced.

This would also help foster closer security ties between member states through joint military exercises and exchange of intelligence, he said.

The pact is provided for in the SADC Organ on Politics, Defense and Security, to which Zimbabwe is a party.

Zimbabwe became a signatory to the pact in August 2003.

Source: Xinhua