KARACHI: Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed a Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement on Wednesday pledging that aggression against one country would be treated as an attack on both, in what experts described as a landmark move that reflects shifting global alignments and decades of close cooperation between the two allies.
The accord was concluded in Riyadh during Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Sharing a copy of the joint statement on X early on Thursday, Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman described the two nations as “One front against any aggressor ... Always and forever.”
Pakistani analysts meanwhile said the agreement underscored both countries’ intent to formalize long-standing security ties while also reflecting broader shifts in the regional and global order.
“The defense pact between Pakistan and KSA [Kingdom of Saudi Arabia] … will have a long-term impact on the power matrix of both South Asia and the Middle East,” Huma Baqai, an academic and foreign affairs expert, told Arab News.
