Nuclear programme will be made available to Saudi if needed, says Pakistan

 Pakistan’s defence minister says his nation’s nuclear programme “will be made available” to Saudi Arabia if needed under the countries’ new defence pact, marking the first specific acknowledgment that Islamabad had put the kingdom under its nuclear umbrella.

Defence Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif’s comments underline the importance of the pact struck this week between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, which have had military ties for decades.

The move is seen by analysts as a signal to Israel, long believed to be the Middle East’s only nuclear-armed nation. It comes after Israel’s attack targeting Hamas leaders in Qatar last week killed six people and sparked new concerns among Gulf Arab nations about their safety as the Israel-Hamas war devastated the Gaza Strip and set the region on edge.

Speaking to Geo TV in an interview late Thursday night, Asif made the comments while answering a question on whether “the deterrence that Pakistan gets from nuclear weapons” will be made available to Saudi Arabia.

“Let me make one point clear about Pakistan’s nuclear capability: that capability was established long ago when we conducted tests. Since then, we have forces trained for the battlefield,” Asif said.

“What we have, and the capabilities we possess, will be made available to (Saudi Arabia) according to this agreement,” he added.

The two countries signed a defence deal Wednesday declaring that an attack on one nation would be an attack on both.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, with which both nations have monitoring agreements, did not immediately respond to a request for comment over the Pakistani defence minister’s remarks. Asif criticised Israel in the interview for not fully disclosing its suspected nuclear weapons program to the IAEA.

Israel has not commented on the two nations’ defense pact. Pakistan long has criticized Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians, but has not been directly involved in any war against it. And while neither nation has diplomatic ties to Israel, American officials had sought to mediate a diplomatic recognition deal involving Saudi Arabia before Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that sparked the war.

“We have not named any country whose attack would automatically trigger a retaliatory response. Neither has Saudi Arabia named any country, nor have we,” Asif said in the interview. “This is an umbrella arrangement offered to one another by both sides: if there is aggression against either party - from any side - it will be jointly defended, and the aggression will be met with a response.”

The deal came a week after the attack in Doha as Gulf Arab countries weigh how to defend themselves. Israeli attacks since Oct. 7, 2023, have stretched across Iran, Lebanon, the Palestinian territories, Qatar, Syria and Yemen.

Asked if others could join the pact, the minister added: “I can say the door is not closed to others.”

That idea was repeated by Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar.

“It is premature to say anything, but after this development, other countries have also expressed a desire for similar arrangements,” Dar told reporters in London in televised remarks. “Such things follow due process. Even with Saudi Arabia, it took several months to finalize.”

Saudi Arabia has long been linked to Pakistan’s nuclear programme. Retired Pakistani Brig. Gen. Feroz Hassan Khan has said Saudi Arabia provided “generous financial support to Pakistan that enabled the nuclear programme to continue, especially when the country was under sanctions.” Pakistan faced US sanctions for years over its pursuit of the bomb, and saw new ones imposed over its ballistic missile work at the end of the Biden administration.

Pakistan developed its nuclear weapons programme to counter India’s atomic bombs. Pakistan’s Shaheen 3 ballistic missile, believed to be able to carry both conventional and nuclear warheads, has a maximum range of 2,750 kilometers (1,700 miles) — making it capable of reaching Israel.

On the other hand, India said on Friday it hoped Saudi Arabia would keep in mind mutual interests and sensitivities between the two countries, two days after Riyadh signed a mutual defence pact with New Delhi’s old foe Pakistan.

The agreement, which came amid diplomatic upheaval in the Middle East and just months after a deadly India-Pakistan conflict, says any aggression against either country shall be considered an aggression against both.

“India and Saudi Arabia have a wide-ranging strategic partnership which has deepened considerably in the last few years,” Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told reporters during a weekly news briefing.

“We expect that this strategic partnership will keep in mind mutual interests and sensitivities,” he said.

Saudi Arabia is one of the top exporters of petroleum to India and the two countries agreed this year to boost cooperation in supplies of crude and liquefied petroleum gas.

Associated Press