Islamabad: Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has said that the recently signed strategic mutual defence pact with Saudi Arabia has “formalised” a relationship between the two countries that was previously “a bit transactional”.

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia last week signed the “Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement” in Riyadh, pledging that any attack on either country would be treated as an “act of aggression against both.”

Previously, Asif had suggested that Pakistan’s nuclear capabilities could be made available to Riyadh under the new framework. However, in a subsequent interview, the minister denied that nuclear weapons were part of the accord, saying they were “not on the radar”.

“It is not a reaction to what happened in Qatar because this was being negotiated for quite some time

See Full Page