Analysing 'implications' of Pak-Saudi mutual defence pact for national security, says India
The government remains committed to protecting India’s national interests and ensuring comprehensive national security in all domains, MEA official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal says
India on Thursday (18 September) said it "will study the implications" of the strategic mutual defence pact between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, under which the two countries have agreed to view an attack on either as an "aggression against both".
In a statement issued on today's development, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the government of India was aware that this development had been under consideration.
"We have seen reports of the signing of a strategic mutual defence pact between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. The Government was aware that this development, which formalises a long-standing arrangement between the two countries, had been under consideration."
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"We will study the implications of this development for our national security as well as for regional and global stability," the statement reads.
The government remains committed to protecting India's national interests and ensuring comprehensive national security in all domains, it added.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia on Wednesday signed the deal – "Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement" – during Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's visit to the Gulf country on the invitation of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
"This agreement... aims to develop aspects of defence cooperation between the two countries and strengthen joint deterrence against any aggression," AFP news agency quoted a statement published by the Saudi Press Agency.
"The agreement states that any aggression against either country shall be considered an aggression against both," it added.
The strategic defence pact comes just days after an Israeli strike targeted Hamas leaders in neighbouring Qatari capital Doha. The air strike in Doha was described by the US, on which Gulf states have long depended on for their security, as a unilateral attack that does not advance American and Israeli interests.
The defence agreement between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan also comes months after the latter was involved in a four-day-long military conflict with India that saw a series of tense exchange of drones and missiles.
The military conflict followed the Operation Sindoor strikes by Indian armed forces on May 7 in retaliation to the 22 April terrorist attack in Pahalgam. The Operation Sindoor military strikes successfully neutralised key terror infrastructures in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
