O n Wednesday, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed a ‘Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement’ in Riyadh, between visiting Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, and Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman. The agreement came about ten days after the 9 September Israeli airstrike on Qatar, which targeted visiting Hamas leaders.

The timing of the agreement has created the two broad impressions in Pakistan. One is that Riyadh, fearful of Israeli aggression and no longer trusting the United States to protect its allies, has started to look toward Pakistan for protection. And two, that this agreement could lead to a broader security pact in which Pakistan may become a guarantor of Middle Eastern peace.

Such assumptions, of course, rest on Rawalpindi’s projections of conf

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