India sees Pak-Saudi defence pact as response to Israel's Doha strike

India reacted to the Pakistan-Saudi Arabia defence pact saying Riyadh should respect mutual interests and sensitivities, while officials view the deal as accelerated by Israel's Doha strike

India's foreign policy establishment is of the view that while the Pakistan-Saudi Arabia defence pact has implications for New Delhi, which need to be analysed, the timeline for its signing had been accelerated by the two countries after the Israeli strikes on Qatar’s capital Doha on September 9. 

 

Official sources also pointed out that while the details of the agreement are not public, the joint statement that Riyadh and Islamabad issued after signing the pact refers to collective defence. However, its force as a legal obligation would need to be assessed. Experts have suggested that despite Islamabad's claims, it would be far-fetched to believe that Riyadh would support Pakistan militarily in any conflict with India, which has robust strategic and economic relations with Saudi Arabia.

 

On Friday, reacting to the strategic defence pact between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, India's Ministry of External Affairs said it expects that Riyadh — given its strategic partnership with New Delhi — will “keep in mind mutual interests and sensitivities”. “India and Saudi Arabia have a wide-ranging strategic partnership that has deepened considerably in the last few years,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.

 

On Thursday, the ministry had said New Delhi was aware the deal was under consideration. It had formalised a long-standing arrangement between the two countries. The MEA will study the implications of the pact for India’s national security as well as for regional and global stability, it said. The Indian government remains committed to protecting India’s national interests and ensuring comprehensive national security in all domains, it added. 

 

Observers of Riyadh-Islamabad relations have also pointed out that the two countries have a long-standing defence partnership that goes back several decades. While the US provides the overall security framework to Saudi Arabia and other gulf countries, in many cases Pakistan has provided manpower and expertise in the military domain.

 

Whenever Gulf states have come under threat, whether from Arab nationalism, or Iran, they have turned to Pakistan. Saudi Arabia first signed the Defence Agreement with Pakistan in 1967. The cooperation deepened after the 1979 Grand Mosque seizure, when Pakistani special forces helped Saudi troops reclaim Masjid al-Haram. The two countries upgraded their defence cooperation in 1982, through a bilateral security cooperation agreement. At one point of time, more than 15,000 Pakistani troops were stationed in the Kingdom.

 

The ‘Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement’ was signed by Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Abdulaziz Al Saud and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday. Sharif, accompanied by Pakistan Army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, was on a visit to Saudi Arabia.

 

Asif has since said that the “doors are not closed” for other Arab countries to join the Pakistan-Saudi Arabia defence pact. The deal comes days after an Israeli attack on the Hamas leadership in Qatar, a key US ally in the Gulf region. “I think it is a fundamental right of the countries and people here, particularly the Muslim population, to together defend their region, countries and nations,” Asif told a news channel.

 

Asked whether Pakistan's nuclear assets were also up for use under the agreement, Asif said: “What we have, our capabilities will absolutely be available under this pact.” Questioned about whether any attack on one country would lead to the involvement of the other and vice versa, the minister said: “Yes, absolutely. There is no doubt in this.” Asif said it was not an “aggressive pact” but a defensive arrangement, similar to that of NATO.

 

The Pakistani Defence Minister said that Pakistan had also been involved in training Saudi forces for a while and the recent development was only a formalised “extension” of that. “If there is aggression, whether against Saudi Arabia or Pakistan, we will jointly defend against it,” he said. 

 

Pakistan had always had a large military and air force contingent present in Saudi for many decades, he said. “I think that (pre-existing) relationship has been more defined now and that understanding has been given the form of a defence agreement,” he said. Asif said the protection of the holy Islamic sites in Saudi Arabia was also a matter of a “sacred duty” for Pakistan.