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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
Saudi Arabia and Pakistan sign mutual defense pact as Gulf Arab states
grow wary of US security guarantees
Story by Reuters
Updated:
12:35 AM EDT, Thu September 18, 2025
Source: Reuters
Saudi Arabia and nuclear-armed Pakistan signed a formal mutual defense
pact on Wednesday, in a move that significantly strengthens a
decades-long security partnership amid heightened regional tensions.
The enhanced defense ties come as Gulf Arab states about the
reliability of the United States as their longstanding security
guarantor. Israel’s last week heightened those concerns.
“This agreement is a culmination of years of discussions. This is not
a response to specific countries or specific events but an
institutionalization of longstanding and deep cooperation between our
two countries,” a senior Saudi official told Reuters when asked about
its timing.
Israel’s attempt to kill the political leaders of Hamas with
airstrikes on Doha, while they were discussing a ceasefire proposal
that Qatar is helping to mediate, infuriated Arab countries.
The pact could shift the strategic calculus in a complex region. Allies
of Washington, Gulf monarchies have sought to stabilize ties with both
Iran and Israel to resolve longstanding security concerns.
But the Gaza war has upended the region and Gulf state Qatar has been
subjected to direct hits twice in a year, once by Iran and once by
Israel.
The Saudi deal comes months after Pakistan fought a brief military
conflict with rival India in May.
India’s ministry of external affairs spokesman, Randhir Jaiswal said
in a post on social media website X on Thursday that India was aware of
the development, adding it would study its implications for New
Delhi’s security and for regional stability.
The senior Saudi official, who spoke on condition of anonymity,
acknowledged the need to balance relations with Pakistan’s rival,
India, also a nuclear power.
“Our relationship with India is more robust than it has ever been. We
will continue to grow this relationship and seek to contribute to
regional peace whichever way we can.”
Asked whether Pakistan would be obliged to provide Saudi Arabia with a
nuclear umbrella under the pact, the official said: “This is a
comprehensive defensive agreement that encompasses all military
means.”
Pakistani state television showed Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz
Sharif and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de
facto ruler, embracing after signing the agreement. In attendance was
Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, regarded as the
country’s most powerful person.
“This agreement, which reflects the shared commitment of both nations
to enhance their security and to achieving security and peace in the
region and the world, aims to develop aspects of defense cooperation
between the two countries and strengthen joint deterrence against any
aggression. The agreement states that any aggression against either
country shall be considered an aggression against both,” a statement
from the Pakistani prime minister’s office said.
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