ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has been negotiating an expanded defence pact with Kuwait in exchange for energy cooperation and investment, the Reuters news agency reported on Friday, citing five sources with knowledge of the talks.
The talks remain at an early stage, it said, and could still be complicated by heightened tensions between the United States and Iran.
Kuwait has had a more limited defence deal with Pakistan for training and joint exercises since 2023.
It is now seeking a show of force by Islamabad that would be similar to Pakistan’s pact with Saudi Arabia, including “thousands of Pakistani troops on the ground, fighter jets, drones, an air defence system, and other defence-related facilities”, said a Pakistani government official.
It is unclear whether Pakistan is willing to go this far, given that its agreement with Saudi Arabia was the result of a decades-old close alliance with Riyadh.
