ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar said on Friday several countries had expressed interest in signing a security pact with his country after it concluded a Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement with Saudi Arabia this week, though he stressed such accords take time and do not materialize overnight.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia sealed the deal during Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s state visit to Riyadh, where he met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to discuss regional and bilateral issues. Both nations have said the pact formalizes decades of defense partnership and is not directed against any third country.
Since the signing of the agreement, analysts have widely speculated more such accords could follow amid a shifting geopolitical environment in the region.
“It is premature to say anything, but many countries desire, after this development, to have a similar arrangement,” Dar told a group of reporters in London in a video shared on social media platforms without naming them.
“However, it [takes] a due process,” he continued. “It [the accord with Saudi Arabia] wasn’t signed overnight. It took several months.”
