Recent developments in the Middle East have led to the defense pact between Riyadh and Islamabad.
The Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement (SMDA) was signed by the leaders of the two countries during the visit of Pakistani Prime Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif to Saudi Arabia and his meeting with the country’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. It is said that Pakistan’s Army Chief Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, who is accompanying the Prime Minister on this trip, played a key role in concluding this new agreement with Riyadh.
Yesterday, after Sharif’s aircraft entered Saudi airspace, he was welcomed by four Saudi Air Force F-15 fighters that escorted the Pakistani Prime Minister’s aircraft to Riyadh Airport.
The new development in Pakistan’s high-level defense-military cooperation with Saudi Arabia comes just days after Sharif met with the Saudi Crown Prince on the sidelines of an emergency summit of Arab-Islamic leaders in Doha, the capital of Qatar, where Mohammed bin Salman announced the Pakistani Prime Minister’s upcoming visit to Riyadh.
Pakistani experts have interpreted the signing of the joint strategic defense agreement with Saudi Arabia as a significant development and consider it a new military arrangement for Riyadh after the serious consequences of the recent Israeli aggression against Qatar.
According to these analyses, Saudi Arabia is concerned about the inaction of defense cooperation with the United States, which, despite the long-standing cooperation process, the Israeli regime attacked an important member of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
The joint statement of the leaders of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia on the signing of the joint strategic defense agreement states: This agreement, which reflects the joint commitment of both countries to strengthen their security and achieve security and peace in the region and the world, aims to develop aspects of defense cooperation between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia and strengthen joint deterrence against any aggression.
The agreement states that any aggression against either of the two countries will be considered aggression against both countries.