Pakistan Saudi Defense Pact: Targeting Iran AMID Regional Tensions- Saudi Arabia has done a defense deal with Pakistan in view of Iran’s threat and not because of Israel

Pakistan Saudi Arabia Deal: A big agreement in Saudi on Wednesday shocked the whole world. In the presence of Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the two countries signed the ‘Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement’. This agreement was reached at a time when Israeli signed a bizarry on Qatar on 9 September. It is believed that Saudi Arabia is also concerned. But analysts say that the real concern is not Israel, but Iran. Senior Fellow Ayesha Siddika, at the Department of War Studies of King’s College London, believes that the deal is ‘trying to make balance from Iran’ for Saudi Arabia. In The print, he wrote an article related to it.

Why did Saudi trust Pakistan?

The relationship between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan is not new. The Pakistani army has been protecting the Saudi monarchy since the 1960s. Since the siege of Mecca (1979), Saudi’s monarchy has always been afraid, and Pakistan proved to be the most trusted companion for him. There were many differences- like Pakistan did not participate in the war directly in the US attack on Iraq in 1991. In 1991, the then Army Chief General Aslam Baig refused to send a Pakistani soldier in the war against Iraq after the attack on Kuwait. In 2015, the Pakistani Parliament refused to send the army in the Yemen War in 2015. But still the relationship never broken.

This agreement on paper looks as against ‘Israel’, but the real purpose is Iran. Recently, the US and Israel targeted Iran’s nuclear program. After this, Saudi Arabia is afraid that Iran may take retaliation. In such a situation, Saudi Arabia wants to connect Pakistan’s nuclear capacity and military strength. Such deals indicate more than direct fighting. At the same time, after this deal, Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khwaja Asif clearly said, “What we have will be available for (Saudi Arabia).” This means that Pakistan can deploy some part of its strategic weapons in Saudi.

America’s ‘silent approval’

Pakistan and Saudi are not showing their eyes to Trump with this agreement. Nor shows Saudi’s distance from America. Rather, it is being believed that this deal was done only after talks with America. According to experts, the US wants to put the burden of Saudi’s security on Pakistan, just as Britain did it after 1947. However, it is also true that after the recent attack on Qatar, resentment has increased in the western countries about the ‘careless policies’ of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.