Pakistan, Saudi Arabia Sign Mutual Defense Pact, Following Israel’s Attack on Qatar

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have entered into a mutual defense agreement dubbed “Strategic Mutual Defense Pact” on Wednesday as the former’s Prime Minister is on an official visit to Saudi Arabia.

The visit undertaken upon Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s invitation saw this first concrete outcome as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the Crown Prince signed the pact at Yamama Palace in Riyadh.

The pact binds both countries to consider an attack on one as an attack on both, and to jointly respond to any aggression. For now, this agreement serves as a deterrent as Pakistan possesses nuclear weapons.

A joint statement, that surfaced soon after, explicitly terms this pact as an outcome of longstanding security partnership between the two countries. Pakistan’s Chief of Armed Forces, General Asim Munir, was also reportedly present as the agreement was signed.

The statement said that the pact builds on “the historic partnership extending for nearly eight decades” between the two countries, and “based on the bonds of brotherhood and Islamic solidarity.”

The agreement “aims to develop aspects of defense cooperation between the two countries and strengthen joint deterrence against any aggression,” the joint statement read.

After Israel’s attack on Doha on September 9, this pact between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia is the first and foremost concrete step to have surfaced, except that it is bilateral while Qatar, following the attack, urged a regional response.

“The agreement states that any aggression against either country shall be considered an aggression against both,” the joint statement further said.

While the official language suggests that the pact is only a natural extension of the all-round relationship between the two, analysts are increasingly viewing it in the larger regional security context.

Since 1967, Pakistan has trained more than 8,200 Saudi armed forces personnel, and the two sides have also held several joint military exercises.