Pakistan’s Defense Minister: Doors are open for Islamabad’s defense pact with other countries.
Khawaja Muhammad Asif, in a statement on a Pakistani news channel, said that our recent defense agreement with Saudi Arabia is never against another country or for expansionism, but it is our right to strengthen cooperation with friendly and allied countries.
He added: “We have already raised the need for the unity of the Islamic world and the formation of a coalition like NATO to defend each other and confront common threats, and we believe that Muslims have strong capacities to defend and protect their interests.”
The Pakistani Defense Minister said, “It is too early to predict whether other countries can join our defense agreement with Saudi Arabia, but I can say that the doors are open for Pakistan to sign a defense agreement with other countries.”
Referring to the US and NATO defense pact with the Arabs of the region, he said: “We are seeing how billions of dollars from the US, NATO, and British budgets are being spent on the bloodshed of Palestinians in Gaza at the hands of Israel, and this is very regrettable.”
Khawaja Asif said: During the recent Arab-Islamic summit in Doha, such a feeling was clearly expressed that Muslims are looking for a coalition to confront Israeli threats.
According to IRNA, since acquiring nuclear power in 1998, Pakistan has always tried to establish its position as a deterrent against regional threats. Over the past two decades, Islamabad, while emphasizing the policy of nuclear deterrence, has always called for greater unity of the Islamic world against common threats.
The current Defense Minister, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, has repeatedly criticized the “misuse of military power by the United States and NATO” and has emphasized the need to create an Islamic coalition similar to NATO. This view is a continuation of the trend that Pakistan has followed in recent years, especially after the formation of the “Islamic Military Coalition to Combat Terrorism” led by Saudi Arabia (2015). Despite participating in this coalition, Islamabad has always stated that its defense agreements with Muslim countries are defensive in nature and will not be against any third country.
In recent years, as the Gaza crisis has intensified, Pakistani officials have repeatedly publicly criticized the Zionist regime and its Western backers.
Pakistan, which has not yet recognized the Zionist regime, cites its traditional stance in support of the Palestinians as one of the pillars of its foreign policy.