TRTWorld
September 20, 2025
Marking an elevation of their long-standing military ties, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have recently signed the Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement (SMDA), pledging that “any aggression against either country shall be considered an aggression against both.”
As a senior Saudi official explained to Reuters, this is less a sudden pivot than the culmination of “years of discussions”; not aimed at any one country or event, but rather the “institutionalisation” of the historic and strategic ties between the two countries that have already existed, now made public due to the inevitability of circumstances.
For decades, Saudi-Pakistani defence ties have included joint army training, annual military exercises, arms production and the regular deployment of Pakistani troops in the Kingdom for security roles. But this time, Riyadh has taken things further, with the SMDA, the Kingdom has effectively stepped under Islamabad’s nuclear umbrella.
The timing is no coincidence. A combustible mix of Middle East instability, diminishing trust in US security guarantees, and the need to consolidate deterrence capabilities amid spiking regional threats has forced Riyadh to finally take the plunge.
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https://www.trtworld.com/article/42ec7a30759b
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