Notice: file_put_contents(): Write of 191015 bytes failed with errno=28 No space left on device in /opt/frankenphp/design.onmedianet.com/app/src/Arsae/CacheManager.php on line 36

Warning: http_response_code(): Cannot set response code - headers already sent (output started at /opt/frankenphp/design.onmedianet.com/app/src/Arsae/CacheManager.php:36) in /opt/frankenphp/design.onmedianet.com/app/src/Models/Response.php on line 17

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /opt/frankenphp/design.onmedianet.com/app/src/Arsae/CacheManager.php:36) in /opt/frankenphp/design.onmedianet.com/app/src/Models/Response.php on line 20
Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement - Wikipedia Jump to content

Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, parties to the Agreement
TypeDefence pact
Signed17 September 2025; 26 days ago (2025-09-17)
LocationAl Yamamah Palace, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Signatories
Parties
LanguageEnglish

The Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement (SMDA; Urdu: تزویراتی باہمی دفاعی معاہدہ;[1] Arabic: اتفاقية الدفاع الإستراتيجي المشترك)[2] is a security and defence pact between the countries of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Under this agreement, both countries have committed to treating any act of aggression against one as an act against both (known as collective security).

The pact was signed on 17 September 2025 at Al Yamamah Palace in Riyadh, by Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman and Pakistani prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, during a state visit of the latter to Saudi Arabia.[3][4][5]

Background

[edit]
See also: Pakistan–Saudi Arabia relations

Saudi Arabia and Pakistan share a long-standing relationship that encompasses military and economic cooperation, as well as cultural and religious ties.[6]

In recent years, shifts in Middle Eastern geopolitics—including concerns about external threats, responses to Israeli military actions, and doubts regarding American reliability as a security guarantor—have intensified regional security concerns. Many analysts view the agreement, at least in part, as a response to these dynamics.[7][8][6][9]

Israeli airstrikes on Qatar

[edit]
Main article: Israeli attack on Doha

The Financial Times reported that the 9 September 2025 Israeli airstrikes in Doha, Qatar deeply unsettled Gulf states' sense of security, exacerbating long-standing concerns about United States unpredictability and commitment to their defence.[10]

The Israeli unilateral attacks particularly challenged United States obligations under the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which include protecting capital cities in exchange for oil and gas, a framework in which Saudi Arabia is a participant.[11][6] A senior Saudi security official stated, "We hope [the agreement] will reinforce our deterrence—aggression against one is aggression against the other".[10] The spillover of the Israel's war in Gaza in wider Middle East is widely seen as defining factor in Saudi Arabia's signing of a security pact with Pakistan.[12]

Agreement

[edit]

The treaty was signed on 17 September 2025 by the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, and the Pakistani prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, in Riyadh. It came against the backdrop of the Israeli strikes on Qatar and followed the Arab–Islamic extraordinary summit in Doha.[13] Both countries have had close economic, religious, and security ties since the 1960s,[4][14] when Pakistani troops were first deployed on Saudi frontiers over fears of Egypt's participation in the North Yemen civil war.[12][14][15] Since then, Pakistan has trained between 8,000 and 10,000 Saudi military personnel.[12][16][17]

According to a statement by the Saudi Arabia Press Department, "The agreement states that any aggression against either country shall be considered an aggression against both."[18] The agreement's text was not officially published.[12]

In an analysis published by the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, the agreement is "primarily a political signal of solidarity and strategic cooperation, rather than an unconditional war guarantee."[12]

Prospective nuclear weapons deployment

[edit]
See also: Nuclear sharing § Potential nuclear sharing between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia

The news of SMDA quickly attracted the Western news media of speculating Pakistan's nuclear weapons being deployed in the Kingdom.[19][20] Since 2010s, Saudi Arabia has been keenly interested in nuclear weapons to counter Turkish and Iranian regional ambitions, and has fostered ties with Pakistan, which has painstakingly and covertly developed its nuclear weapons program started in 1972 and proved its operational capabilities in 1998.[21][22][14]

Over the question of the nuclear umbrella, a senior Saudi official told Reuters that "This is a comprehensive defensive agreement that encompasses all military means" but did not explicitly mention Pakistan's nuclear sharing with Saudi Arabia.[8][12] It is the first military pact between an Arab Gulf state and a nuclear power.[18] Pakistani Defence Minister Muhammad Asif initially hinted at the nuclear sharing aspect to the strategic agreement but later backtracked, denying such a scope. This lack of clarity led to speculation, leaving the exact terms of the pact uncertain.[23]

The independent assessment by the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs is of the view that nuclear umbrella remains ideally speculative at its best and that Islamabad's foreign and war strategists would be "extremely wary of any commitment that dilutes its control over its nuclear codes or entangles it in conflicts beyond its primary focus."[12]

Following the 2025 Afghanistan–Pakistan conflict, it was questioned whether Saudi Arabia would intervene to support Pakistan.[24]

Reactions

[edit]

Geopolitical analyst Ian Bremmer suggested that the pact could alter India's security calculus, particularly if Saudi Arabia is committed to coming to Pakistan's defence in the event of a conflict.[25]

Domestic

[edit]

Pakistan: An editorial in the Pakistani newspaper Dawn called it "the most significant upgrade to Pakistan–Saudi defence relations in decades".[26] Former Pakistani diplomat Hussein Haqqani noted that the treaty likely covers missile defence.[27]

Saudi Arabia: Saudi officials portrayed the pact as a formalization of a long-standing military partnership, while also using it to send a message of strategic diversification amid regional turmoil.[12]

Regional

[edit]

Some neighboring states and regional powers have expressed concern about the impact on the regional security balance. India, in particular, has reacted with statements that it is carefully monitoring the development.[28][29] Analysts speaking to The Hindu said the timing of the pact appeared to be a warning after Israel's expanding military offensive across the Middle East.[30]

The Institute for the Study of War was of the view that the pact would likely to concern Iran, which it supported its reasoning with Iranian hostile actions in the both Pakistan and Saudi Arabia in past years.[31] However, the Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, speaking on the United Nations General Assembly session, welcomed the pact between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia as the beginning of a "comprehensive regional security system" in opposing Israeli military strikes expansion in the Middle East.[32]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "پاکستان اور سعودی عرب کے درمیان 'تزویراتی باہمی دفاعی معاہدے' پر دستخط" [Signing of a 'Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement' between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia]. العربیہ اردو (in Urdu). 17 September 2025. Retrieved 23 September 2025.
  2. ^ "سياسي / صدور بيان مشترك بشأن زيارة دولة رئيس وزراء جمهورية باكستان الإسلامية إلى المملكة". spa.gov.sa (in Arabic). Retrieved 26 September 2025.
  3. ^ "HRH the Crown Prince, Pakistan Prime Minister Hold Official Talks, Sign Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement". Saudi Press Agency. 17 September 2025. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
  4. ^ a b "Joint Statement on the State Visit of Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia". Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 17 September 2025. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
  5. ^ Momand, Abdullah (17 September 2025). "Pakistan and Saudi Arabia sign defence pact pledging joint response to aggression". Dawn. Karachi. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
  6. ^ a b c Siddiqui, Usaid (17 September 2025). "Saudi Arabia signs mutual defence pact with nuclear-armed Pakistan". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
  7. ^ Yousaf, Kamran (18 September 2025). "Pakistan, KSA sign defence pact". The Express Tribune.
  8. ^ a b Dahan, Maha; Shah, Saeed (17 September 2025). "Saudi Arabia, nuclear-armed Pakistan sign mutual defence pact". Reuters. Retrieved 19 September 2025.
  9. ^ Abdel-Baqui, Omar (18 September 2025). "Saudi Arabia Seeks New Security Alliances as Trust in U.S. Erodes". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
  10. ^ a b England, Andrew; Al, Ahmed Omran; Jilani, Humza (17 September 2025). "Saudi Arabia signs 'strategic mutual defence' pact with Pakistan". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 17 September 2025.
  11. ^ "باكستان والسعودية: هل تؤرّخ اتفاقية الدفاع المشترك الجديدة بين البلدين لتحوّل في ميزان القوى الإقليمية؟". BBC News Arabic (in Arabic). 19 September 2025. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h Akhtar, Rabi (18 September 2025). "Beyond the Hype: Pakistan-Saudi Defense Pact Is Not a Saudi Nuclear Umbrella". Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
  13. ^ Hussain, Abid (18 September 2025). "'Watershed': How Saudi-Pakistan defence pact reshapes region's geopolitics". Al Jazeera.
  14. ^ a b c "Saudi Arabia signs a mutual defense pact with nuclear-armed Pakistan after Israel's attack on Qatar". Associated Press News. 18 September 2025.
  15. ^ "Saudi Arabia signs mutual defense pact with nuclear-armed Pakistan". The Times of Israel. 18 September 2025. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
  16. ^ Hashim, Asad (22 February 2018). "Pakistan silent on Saudi Arabia troop deployment". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
  17. ^ "10,000 Saudi soldiers being trained in Pakistan". Middle East Monitor. 19 February 2018. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
  18. ^ a b Jamal, Umair (19 September 2025). "Pakistan and Saudi Arabia Forge Strategic Defense Pact Amid Shifting West Asian Dynamics". The Diplomat. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
  19. ^ "Pakistan Nuclear Weapons Program". EBSCO. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
  20. ^ Khan, Feroz Hassan (2014). Eating Grass: The Making of the Pakistani Bomb. Palo Alto, California, USA: Stanford University Press. pp. 182–183. ISBN 978-0-8047-8480-1.
  21. ^ "Pakistan Nuclear Weapons Program". EBSCO. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
  22. ^ Khan, Feroz Hassan (2014). Eating Grass: The Making of the Pakistani Bomb. Palo Alto, California, USA: Stanford University Press. pp. 182–183. ISBN 978-0-8047-8480-1.
  23. ^ "Has Pakistan extended its nuclear umbrella to Riyadh? No one will say". The Washington Post. 26 September 2025. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 26 September 2025.
  24. ^ https://www.indiatvnews.com/news/world/will-saudi-arabia-intervene-in-afghanistan-pakistan-conflict-here-what-kingdom-said-latest-2025-10-12-1012440
  25. ^ "Ian Bremmer: Saudi-Pakistan defence pact will change life for India". India Today. 19 September 2025. Retrieved 23 September 2025.
  26. ^ "Here is what analysts have to say about the Pak-Saudi defence agreement". Dawn. 18 September 2025. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
  27. ^ Haqqani, Husain [@husainhaqqani] (18 September 2025). "The term 'strategic' in the Saudi-Pakistan 'Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement' implies that it cover nuclear and missile defense. Pakistan has always used the term 'strategic assets' for its nuclear & missile programs" (Tweet). Retrieved 22 September 2025 – via Twitter.
  28. ^ "Defence pact: Pakistan-Saudi Arabia declare joint response to any aggression; India reacts". The Times of India. 18 September 2025. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
  29. ^ "Saudi-Pakistan defence deal a worry for India: Congress". The Economic Times. 19 September 2025. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
  30. ^ "Pakistan-Saudi Defence deal: Nuclear programme will be made available to Saudi under new pact, says Defence Minister Khawaja". The Hindu. 19 September 2025. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
  31. ^ Glynn, Jordan (19 September 2025). "Iran Update, September 19, 2025".
  32. ^ "Iran welcomes Pak-Saudi defence deal as start of 'comprehensive regional security system'". Dawn. Reuters. 25 September 2025. Retrieved 29 September 2025.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Strategic_Mutual_Defence_Agreement&oldid=1316632722"