ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s military spokesperson on Thursday reaffirmed the country’s resolve to uphold its defense pact with Saudi Arabia, saying that Pakistan considers any threat to the Kingdom’s national security a threat for Islamabad as well.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed a landmark Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement in September last year. Both countries pledged that an aggression against one country will be treated as an attack against both of them. The security pact formalized decades of military and security cooperation between the two allies.
Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar said on Wednesday that Islamabad had warned all parties involved in the US-Iran conflict that Saudi Arabia was a “no-go area” for Pakistan. His remarks came amid heightened regional tensions following months of confrontation between Iran, Israel and the US that have raised fears of a broader Middle East conflict involving Gulf states.
Speaking at a press briefing, military spokesperson Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said that every Pakistani citizen considers it a matter of pride that the country’s armed forces have been chosen by god to protect the Two Holy Mosques.
“And the protection of the Two Holy Mosques is connected to the national security of Saudi Arabia,” Chaudhry said.
“Any threat to Saudi Arabia is also a threat to us. And just as the security and safety of Saudi Arabia is dear to us, in the same way Pakistan’s security is dear to Saudi Arabia as well.”
He said the mutual defense pact is a manifestation of decades-old, historic ties that Islamabad and Riyadh enjoy.
“What its manifestations are, that are not part of the agreement,” Chaudhry said. “That are not to be disclosed.”
Pakistan has longstanding defense ties with Saudi Arabia, including military training cooperation, troop deployments and security coordination spanning decades.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday also reiterated his government’s resolve to ensure the protection of the Two Holy Mosques in the Kingdom.
“The protection, defense and security of the sacred land of the Two Holy Mosques is extremely important and dearer to us than our lives,” Sharif said. “The mutual defense agreements between the two brotherly countries affirm this iron resolve of ours.”
Pakistan last month deployed a military air contingent to Saudi Arabia to strengthen joint operational readiness, the Saudi defense ministry said. Islamabad has in recent months positioned itself as a mediator in regional diplomacy, hosting direct US-Iran talks in Islamabad in April following decades without formal face-to-face negotiations between the two sides.
Islamabad also criticized Iran’s missile and drone attacks against Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other Gulf countries amid the US-Iran conflict.
