Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has said that Pakistan’s recently signed strategic defence agreement with Saudi Arabia is not a knee-jerk reaction to Israel’s attack on Qatar but rather the culmination of years of talks aimed at formalising a long-standing partnership.
Speaking to British-American journalist Mehdi Hasan in an interview for Zeteo’s Mehdi Unfiltered, Asif explained that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia had maintained close defence ties for over five decades, including the deployment of thousands of Pakistani troops in the Kingdom. “At one point, over 4,000 to 5,000 of our personnel were stationed there, and even today, a military presence remains. This pact simply gives structure to a relationship that was previously more transactional,” he said.
Signed in Riyadh on September 17 by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the “Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement” pledges that an attack on one country will be considered an attack on both. The accord comes in the wake of regional upheavals, including the May conflict between India and Pakistan and the June war between Iran and Israel.
Pressed on whether the pact extended a Pakistani “nuclear umbrella” to Riyadh, Asif avoided specifics but stressed that Pakistan was a responsible nuclear state. “After Hiroshima and Nagasaki, no nuclear power favours using such weapons,” he said, dismissing as “sensationalised” reports suggesting Pakistan might sell nuclear capability to Saudi Arabia.
The minister also touched on Pakistan’s balancing act between Washington and Beijing, affirming that China remained Islamabad’s “most reliable ally” and key defence partner.
On domestic politics, Asif defended the government’s handling of opposition leader Imran Khan’s imprisonment, insisting it was not revenge. “Our democracy is not the best, but we are on this path,” he remarked, recalling his own six-month detention without charges.