ISLAMABAD: Chief of Defense Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir on Wednesday described the country’s joint security pact with Saudi Arabia as a “historic” milestone, telling a gathering of religious scholars that Pakistan and the kingdom share a deep strategic relationship.

Signed in September, the Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement has solidified decades of Saudi–Pakistan defense cooperation, covering intelligence-sharing, counterterrorism and regional stability.

The two nations have long coordinated on defense matters, with Pakistani military personnel deployed in the Kingdom.

“The defense agreement [with Saudi Arabia] is historic,” he said in an address to the conference in the federal capital.

The top military commander said Pakistan regarded its connection with the Kingdom as unique.