Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Thursday said the entry of other Arab nations in the mutual defence deal between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia was not ruled out, saying the \u201cdoors are not closed\u201d for such developments.<\/p>\n
Pakis\u00adtan and Saudi Arabia entered into a landmark mutual defence agreement, under which any aggression against one state will be considered an attack on both. The \u2018Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement\u2019 was signed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman at the Al-Yamamah Palace in Riyadh on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Talking more about the deal in an interview on Geo News show \u2018Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath\u2019 and whether more Arab nations could become part of it, Asif said: \u201cI cannot prematurely answer this, but I will definitely say the doors are not closed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asif said he had always called for a similar arrangement like Nato since there was greater vulnerability for Pakistan, pointing to the history of the region in the last 40-50 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it is a fundamental right of the countries and people here, particularly the Muslim population, to together defend their region, countries and nations.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said there was no clause in the agreement that ruled out the entry of any other nation or that Pakistan could not sign a similar agreement with anyone else.<\/p>\n
Asked about whether Pakistan\u2019s nuclear assets were also up for use under the agreement, Asif said: \u201cWhat we have, our capabilities, will absolutely be available under this pact. But let me say, since Pakistan has become a nuclear state, never has anyone challenged our status of being a responsible nuclear power.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asif said Pakistan had always offered its nuclear facilities for inspection and never committed any violation. He added that this is in contrast to Israel, which had not allowed any inspection.<\/p>\n
Questioned about whether any attack on one country would lead to the involvement of the other and vice versa, the minister said: \u201cYes, absolutely. There is no doubt in this.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said neither Pakistan nor Saudi Arabia had named or conditioned the implementation of the defence deal with any specific country. \u201cIt is an umbrella that has been provided by both sides, that, if there is aggression against any side from any side, it will be jointly defended against and responded to.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asif clarified it was not an \u201caggressive pact\u201d but a defensive arrangement, similar to that of Nato.<\/p>\n
He added that Pakistan had also been involved in training Saudi forces for quite a while and the recent development was only a formalised \u201cextension\u201d of all that, adding that it was a positive thing.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf there is aggression, whether against Saudi Arabia or Pakistan, we will jointly defend against it.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said Pakistan had always had talks on the issue with Saudi Arabia, saying the former had always had a large military and air force contingent present in the latter for many decades.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that [pre-existing] relationship has been more defined now and that understanding has been given the form of a defence agreement. This is embedded in the history of our military cooperation and our brotherly relationship with Saudi Arabia.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asif also said the protection of the holy Islamic sites in Saudi Arabia was also a matter of a \u201csacred duty\u201d for Pakistan.<\/p>\n
Questioned about whether the United States was taken into confidence on the matter, Asif said he felt there was no ground or justification for any other third party to be involved in the development.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis agreement will not be a hegemonic arrangement but a defensive arrangement \u2026 we don\u2019t have any plans to conquer territory or attack anyone. But our fundamental right can\u2019t be denied to us and we exercised that yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n
He reiterated that Pakistan could also pursue similar arrangements with other countries.<\/p>\n
\u2018Afghanistan is a hostile country\u2019
\nTo a question about terrorist attacks on security forces, Asif reiterated that Afghan soil is being used to stage acts of terrorism in Pakistan.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were swept into two wars in Afghanistan. The US, on both occasions, left the region and we are still dealing with the consequences, be it the Taliban, the TTP (Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan), the BLA (Balochistan Liberation Army) or anyone else,\u201d Asif said, referring to the Soviet-Afghan War of the 1980s and the US-led International Security Assistance Force mission after 2001.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople embrace martyrdom daily; this liability emerged due to those two wars,\u201d he added. \u201cThe Kabul government is not innocent in this, I am being categorical. Through these people, we are being blackmailed by them.<\/p>\n
\u201cI say with no ambiguity: Afghanistan is a hostile country.\u201d<\/p>\n
The defence minister added that Afghanistan was the last country to recognise Pakistan and that discussions on terrorism went nowhere.<\/p>\n
When asked if Arab states would act in response to Afghan aggression, Asif encouraged it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would not be against it, but how many times have we been there? They are involved in our politics as well, with a party I will not name,\u201d he stated. \u201cThis party advocates for these people who have our children\u2019s blood on their hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a subject Pakistan should be clear on, and we are very clear.\u201d<\/p>\n
Defence deal
\nAccording to the text of the joint statement, issued simultaneously by Islamabad and Riyadh at the end of PM Shehbaz\u2019s day-long state visit, the pact \u201creflects the shared commitment of both nations to enhance their security and to achieve security and peace in the region and the world\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201c[It] aims to develop aspects of defence cooperation between the two countries and strengthen joint deterrence against any aggression,\u201d the statement said, without going into details.<\/p>\n
Importantly, the text underscored that \u201cany aggression against either country shall be considered an aggression against both\u201d.<\/p>\n
The timing of the accord, coming on the heels of an Arab summit that signalled a shift towards collective security \u2014 in the wake of Israel\u2019s attack on Qatar \u2014 hints that it is rooted in current world affairs and reflects the defence concerns of both countries.<\/p>\n
The agreement marks the most significant upgrade in Pakistan-Saudi defence ties in decades. Cooperation between the two states dates back to 1967 and deepened after the 1979 Grand Mosque seizure, when Pakistani special forces helped Saudi troops reclaim Masjid al-Haram.<\/p>\n
In 1982, the two sides institutionalised security ties through a Bilateral Security Cooperation Agreement that enabled Pakistani training, advisory support and deployments on Saudi soil. At times, as many as 20,000 Pakistani troops were stationed in the kingdom, and Saudi Arabia became a key purchaser of Pakistani-made arms.<\/p>\n
In recent years, the partnership has gained urgency amid regional instability. In February, a meeting of the Joint Military Cooperation Committee in Riyadh pledged to expand training and exchanges.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Thursday said the entry of other Arab nations in the mutual defence deal between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia was not ruled out, saying the \u201cdoors are not closed\u201d for such developments. Pakis\u00adtan and Saudi Arabia entered into a landmark mutual defence agreement, under which any aggression against one state will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12068,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12067"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12067\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12069,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12067\/revisions\/12069"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}