Islamabad: Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Friday said that Saudi Arabia will defend Pakistan if India attacks its neighbor in the future. Asif made these remarks during a media interaction.
"Ji bilkul, isme koi shak nahi hai (sure, no doubt in it)," Asif told Pakistan's Geo News. He said that it was not an “aggressive pact” but a defensive arrangement, similar to that of NATO.
He added that Pakistan had also been involved in training Saudi forces for quite a while, and the recent development was only a formalised “extension” of all that.
"If there is aggression, whether against Saudi Arabia or Pakistan, we will jointly defend against it," he told Geo TV.
He also highlighted that the joint agreement between Riyadh and Islamabad provides a joint defence framework. Asif further clarified that neither Pakistan nor Saudi Arabia named any country as an aggressor.
"We have not named any country as the aggressor, nor has Saudi Arabia. This is simply an umbrella arrangement provided by both sides. In case of any aggression, from any country, it will be jointly addressed and defended," Asif said as quoted by News18.
During his media interaction, Asif also confirmed that Pakistan's nuclear weapons will be available for Saudi Arabia.
The Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement was signed in Riyadh during Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s visit on Wednesday, September 17.
"Building on the historic partnership extending for nearly eight decades between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, and based on the bonds of brotherhood and Islamic solidarity, as well as shared strategic interests and close defence cooperation between the two countries, HRH the Crown Prince and the Pakistani prime minister signed a Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement," a joint statement read.
"The agreement states that any aggression against either country shall be considered an aggression against both," the joint statement further read.
A day after the agreement was signed, India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), in a statement, had said that the agreement was under consideration.
During its weekly press briefing, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, "India and Saudi Arabia have a wide-ranging strategic partnership which has deepened considerably in the last several years. We expect that this strategic partnership will keep in mind mutual interests and sensitivities."
Notably, Pakistan is the only Islamic country to have nuclear weapons.
