{"id":6909,"date":"2025-09-20T07:03:25","date_gmt":"2025-09-20T07:03:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/natharatmouchrika.net\/home\/?p=6909"},"modified":"2025-09-20T07:03:25","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T07:03:25","slug":"saudi-arabia-signs-a-mutual-defense-pact-with-nuclear-armed-pakistan-after-israels-attack-on-qatar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/natharatmouchrika.net\/home\/?p=6909","title":{"rendered":"Saudi Arabia signs a mutual defense pact with nuclear-armed Pakistan after Israel\u2019s attack on Qatar"},"content":{"rendered":"

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ISLAMABAD (AP) \u2014 Saudi Arabia and nuclear-armed Pakistan have signed a mutual defense pact that defines any attack on either nation as an attack on both \u2014 a key accord in the wake of\u00a0Israel\u2019s strike on Qatar<\/a><\/span>\u00a0last week.<\/p>\n

The kingdom has long had close economic, religious and security ties to Pakistan, including reportedly providing funding for Islamabad\u2019s nuclear weapons program as it developed. Analysts \u2014 and Pakistani diplomats in at least one case \u2014 have suggested over the years that Saudi Arabia could be included under Islamabad\u2019s nuclear umbrella, particularly as tensions have risen over\u00a0Iran\u2019s atomic program<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

But the timing of the pact appeared to be a signal to Israel, long suspected to be the Middle East\u2019s only nuclear-armed state, which has conducted\u00a0a sprawling military offensive<\/a><\/span>\u00a0since Hamas\u2019 Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel stretching across Iran, Lebanon, the Palestinian territories, Qatar, Syria and Yemen.<\/p>\n

Israel did not respond to requests for comment. The pact marks the first major defense decision by a Gulf Arab country since the Qatar attack. The United States, long the security guarantor for the Gulf Arab states, also did not respond to questions posed to the State Department.<\/p>\n

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A deal signed in Riyadh<\/h2>\n

Saudi Arabia\u2019s powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman signed the pact on Wednesday with Pakistan\u2019s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.<\/p>\n

While not specifically discussing the bomb, the agreement states \u201cany aggression against either country shall be considered an aggression against both,\u201d according to statements issued by both Pakistan\u2019s Foreign Affairs Ministry and the state-run Saudi Press Agency.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis agreement … aims to develop aspects of defense cooperation between the two countries and strengthen joint deterrence against any aggression,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n

A senior Saudi official, speaking on condition of anonymity to The Financial Times, seemed to suggest that Pakistan\u2019s nuclear protection was a part of the deal, saying it \u201cwill utilize all defensive and military means deemed necessary depending on the specific threat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zalmay Khalilzad, a former U.S. diplomat with long experience in Afghanistan and Pakistan, expressed concern over the deal, saying it comes in \u201cdangerous times.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPakistan 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 U.S.,\u201d Khalilzad wrote on X.<\/p>\n

A long defense relationship<\/h2>\n

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have a defense relationship stretching back decades, in part due to Islamabad\u2019s 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\u2019s war in Yemen at the time.<\/p>\n

Those ties increased after Iran\u2019s 1979 Islamic Revolution and the kingdom\u2019s fears of a confrontation with Tehran.<\/p>\n

Pakistan developed its nuclear weapons program\u00a0to counter India\u2019s atomic bombs<\/a><\/span>. The two neighbors have fought multiple wars against each other and again came close to open warfare after\u00a0an attack on tourists in April<\/a><\/span>\u00a0in Indian-controlled Kashmir. India is believed to have an estimated 172 nuclear warheads, while Pakistan has 170, according to the U.S.-published Bulletin of Atomic Scientists.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, India\u2019s Foreign Ministry acknowledged the Saudi-Pakistan pact and said it \u201cwill study the implications of this development for our national security as well as for regional and global stability.\u201d Saudi Arabia also maintains close ties with India.<\/p>\n

An interest in Pakistan\u2019s program<\/h2>\n

Retired Pakistani Brig. Gen. Feroz Hassan Khan, in his book on his country\u2019s nuclear weapons program called \u201cEating Grass: The Making of the Pakistani Bomb,\u201d said Saudi Arabia provided \u201cgenerous financial support to Pakistan that enabled the nuclear program to continue, especially when the country was under sanctions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pakistan faced U.S. sanctions for years over its pursuit of the bomb \u2014 and saw new ones imposed over its ballistic missile work at the end of the Biden administration.<\/p>\n

In a 2007 U.S. diplomatic cable published by WikiLeaks, American diplomats in Saudi Arabia noted that their Pakistani counterparts had brought up the idea of the kingdom pursuing a weapons program alongside Islamabad in order to be the \u201cphysical protector\u201d of the Mideast.<\/p>\n

Both Pakistan and Saudi Arabia did not respond to questions from The Associated Press on Thursday on whether the pact extended to Islamabad\u2019s nuclear weapons arsenal. Pakistan \u201chas historically maintained a deliberately ambiguous nuclear doctrine,\u201d according to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists.<\/p>\n

Syed Muhammad Ali, an Islamabad-based security analyst, noted on Thursday that Pakistan\u2019s National Command Authority \u2014 which oversees the country\u2019s atomic weapons \u2014 had not made any statement on the pact. However, he said he believed Pakistan capable of responding to Israel even without the deterrent effect of atomic weapons.<\/p>\n

\u201cPakistan is more than confident that its conventional capability is adequate,\u201d he said. \u201cPakistan\u2019s military … is adequate enough to improve the security of Saudi Arabia without having to resort to the nuclear option.\u201d<\/p>\n

How Iran ties in<\/h2>\n

Saudi Arabia has sought U.S. assistance to advance a civilian nuclear power program, in part with what had been a proposed diplomatic recognition deal with Israel prior to the 2023 Hamas attack that triggered the nearly\u00a0two-year war in Gaza<\/a><\/span>. That could allow Saudi Arabia to enrich uranium in the kingdom \u2014 something that worries nonproliferation experts as spinning centrifuges opens the door to a possible weapons program.<\/p>\n

That deal \u2014 and a Saudi recognition of Israel \u2014 seem further away than ever as the kingdom has condemned Israel\u2019s actions in Gaza and the crown prince has come out saying that Israel is committing a \u201cgenocide\u201d in the Gaza Strip.<\/p>\n

However, Prince Mohammed has also said the kingdom would pursue a nuclear weapon if Iran had one. Saudi Arabia already is believed to have\u00a0a domestic ballistic missile program<\/a><\/span>, which can be a delivery system for a nuclear weapon. Still, the kingdom is a member of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and is not known to have move toward acquiring the bomb through its own work. Saudi Arabia has had a\u00a0Chinese-mediated detente with Iran since 2023<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had a call Thursday with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, to discuss the pact.<\/p>\n

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Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press writer Vineeta Deepak in New Delhi contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

___Link : https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/pakistan-saudi-arabia-defense-israel-india-11cd003a55eb7bec7431cb134f29db5d?mkt_tok=ODEzLVhZVS00MjIAAAGc_X4d7GQ4WCvgfQn2Fjx3WETY6jdUHUk6_I7fSNlPvzbKVOkLUPiOs6SJv3qU3A0wwmsOA4MQFHQWkx2AOww6MMXn3ATSxUVtWh39gcZynss<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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