Saudi Arabia and Pakistan on Wednesday signed a mutual defense pact that defines any attack on either nation as an attack on both.
The kingdom has long had close economic, religious and security ties with Pakistan, including reportedly providing funding for Islamabad’s nuclear weapons program as it developed.
Analysts — and Pakistani diplomats in at least one case — have suggested that Saudi Arabia could be included under Islamabad’s nuclear umbrella, particularly as tensions have risen over Iran’s atomic program.
Photo: AFP / HO / SPA
Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman signed the pact with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
While not specifically discussing nuclear weapons, the agreement states that “any aggression against either country shall be considered an aggression against both,” according to statements issued by the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the state-run Saudi Press Agency.
“This agreement ... aims to develop aspects of defense cooperation between the two countries and strengthen joint deterrence against any aggression,” the statement said.
A senior Saudi Arabian official, speaking on condition of anonymity to the Financial Times, seemed to suggest that Pakistan’s nuclear protection was a part of the deal, saying it “will utilize all defensive and military means deemed necessary depending on the specific threat.”
Zalmay Khalilzad, a former US diplomat with experience in Afghanistan and Pakistan, expressed concern over the deal, saying it comes in “dangerous times.”
“Pakistan has nuclear weapons and delivery systems that can hit targets across the Middle East, including Israel. It also is developing systems that can reach targets in the US,” Khalilzad wrote on social media.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have a defense relationship stretching back decades, in part due to Islamabad’s willingness to defend the Islamic holy sites of Mecca and Medina in the kingdom.
Pakistani troops first traveled to Saudi Arabia in the late 1960s over concerns about Egypt’s war in Yemen at the time.
Those ties increased after Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution and the kingdom’s fears of a confrontation with Tehran.
Pakistan developed its nuclear weapons program to counter India’s atomic bombs.
The two neighbors have fought multiple wars against each other and again came close to open warfare after an attack on tourists in April in Indian-controlled Kashmir.
India is estimated to have 172 nuclear warheads, while Pakistan has 170, according to the US-published Bulletin of Atomic Scientists.
The Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs acknowledged the Saudi Arabia-Pakistan pact and said that it “will study the implications of this development for our national security as well as for regional and global stability.”
Saudi Arabia also has close ties with India.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia did not respond to questions about whether the pact extended to Islamabad’s nuclear weapons arsenal.
Pakistan “has historically maintained a deliberately ambiguous nuclear doctrine,” the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists said.
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