Saudi Arabia will support Pakistan if a war breaks out with India; will defend together, says Pak Defence Minister

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has said that Saudi Arabia will support Pakistan if a war breaks out with India. He was referring to the new defence agreement signed between the two countries. According to him, if either country is attacked, it will be considered an attack on both, and they will respond jointly.

“This is similar to Article 5 of the NATO treaty, which says that an attack on one member is considered an attack on all. The agreement with Saudi Arabia is meant for defence, not aggression. If either Saudi Arabia or Pakistan is attacked, we will defend together. We do not intend to use this agreement for launching any attacks,” Khawaja Asif explained.

He further stated that if war breaks out between India and Pakistan, Saudi Arabia will definitely intervene. There is no doubt about that, he said. The agreement also allows Saudi Arabia access to Pakistan’s nuclear weapons if required.

India, however, has close trade ties with Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is India’s fourth-largest trade partner, while for Saudi Arabia, India is the second-largest partner. In 2024–25, bilateral trade between India and Saudi Arabia was worth Rs 4,188 crore. There are concerns that this new defence pact may affect those friendly ties. At the same time, Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar said that other countries have also expressed interest in signing similar strategic defence agreements.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that the Indian government was aware of the Saudi-Pakistan agreement and reaffirmed that India is committed to protecting its national interests.