Saudi Arabia and Pakistan sign defence pact amid growing wariness over US
An Israeli attack on Qatar last week has heightened concerns about Washington’s reliability as a security guarantor in the region
Saudi Arabia and nuclear-armed Pakistan signed a mutual defence pact late on Wednesday, significantly strengthening a decades-old security partnership a week after Israel’s strikes on Qatar upended the diplomatic calculus in the region.
The enhanced defence ties come as Gulf Arab states grow increasingly wary about the reliability of the United States as their long-standing security guarantor. Israel’s attack on Qatar last week heightened those concerns.
Asked whether Pakistan would now be obliged to provide Saudi Arabia with a nuclear umbrella, a senior Saudi official said: “This is a comprehensive defensive agreement that encompasses all military means.”
Pakistan is the only nuclear-armed, Muslim-majority nation and also fields the Islamic world’s largest army, which it has regularly said is focused on facing down neighbouring foe India.
The agreement was the culmination of years of discussions, the Saudi official said when asked about the timing of the deal. “This is not a response to specific countries or specific events but an institutionalisation of long-standing and deep cooperation between our two countries,” the official added.
Israel’s attempt on September 9 to kill the political leaders of Hamas with air strikes on Doha, while they were discussing a proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza that Qatar is helping to mediate, infuriated Arab countries.