Pakistan’s defence minister has made a stunning acknowledgment that the country’s nuclear capabilities could be extended to Saudi Arabia under a landmark new defence agreement between the two nations.
In a televised interview with Geo TV on Thursday, Defence Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif confirmed that Pakistan’s nuclear deterrent would be “made available” to the kingdom if required under the pact, marking the first public confirmation that Riyadh is now effectively covered by Islamabad’s nuclear umbrella.
The announcement follows the signing of a joint defence pact in Riyadh earlier this week between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, declaring that an attack on one nation would be considered an attack on both.
Analysts say the timing of the revelation is significant, coming just days after an Israeli strike killed six Hamas leaders in Qatar and heightened fears across the Gulf about regional security. The move is widely seen as a message to Israel — long believed to be the Middle East’s only nuclear-armed state — as well as to Iran, with whom Saudi Arabia shares a fragile détente.
Saudi Arabia has long been linked to Pakistan’s nuclear program, with reports that the kingdom provided financial backing during Pakistan’s sanctions-hit weapons development in the 1980s and 1990s. Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal, believed to number around 170 warheads, was built to counter India’s atomic capabilities.
Neither government has provided details on how such nuclear sharing would be operationalized, but Asif’s remarks make clear that the pact includes a significant escalation of security commitments between the two countries.