ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s defense pact with Saudi Arabia will provide a foundation for peace in South Asia and the Middle East, opening the door for other Arab states to join as well, Coordinator to the Prime Minister Rana Ihsan Afzal said this week.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed a Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement (SMDA) in Riyadh this week, pledging that aggression against one country would be treated as an attack on both. The deal, sealed during Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s state visit to the Kingdom, is meant to enhance joint deterrence and deepen decades of military and security cooperation.
“Coordinator to the Prime Minister Rana Ihsan Afzal has emphasized that the newly signed Pakistan-Saudi defense pact would serve as a foundation for peace and prosperity in South Asia and the Middle East,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported on Sunday.
The accord between the two countries was signed amid increasing volatility in the Middle East, where prolonged conflicts have heightened fears of wider instability, reinforcing the urgency Gulf states place on stronger security and defense partnerships.
The state media reported that Afzal, who was speaking to a private news channel, said the agreement will “also open the door for other Arab countries to join” without elaborating much.
