Islamabad:
Pakistan said that its strategic mutual defense agreement (SMDA) with Saudi Arabia is “of a purely defensive nature” and not directed against a third country.
The Pact would not only strengthen bilateral defense cooperation, but also contributes to regional peace, security and stability, the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Shafqat Ali Khan on Friday in a weekly briefing.
He said that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia “enjoy a long and distinguished history of fraternity and cooperation”, with bilateral relations described as “unique, lasting and multiple”. The management of the two countries, he added, shares a vision to raise the relationship with the new heights.
“Since the 1960s, defense cooperation has been one of the main pillars of Pakistani-Saudi bilateral relations, encompassing everything. The strategic mutual defense agreement formalizes this decade and robust old defense partnership,” said Khan, answering questions.
The spokesman also said that the relationship between the two nations “lives in the hearts of the people”. The Pakistanis, he added, hold special feelings for Saudi Arabia as a land of Mecca and Medina and respect the royal family to be the goalkeeper of the holy sites.
The official declaration published jointly by the two countries is explicit, he said, adding that “any misconception or speculation of hypothetical scenarios is unjustified”.
Islamabad and Riyadh signed the historic SMDA on Wednesday, declaring that the attack on one or the other country would be considered against both. The pact was signed between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman during a day visit to the Saudi capital.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have a long -standing strategic and defense cooperation, but SMDA is considered significant in the context of recent developments, including Israeli Qatar strikes.
A Saudi official, however, told Reuters that the agreement was not supposed to respond to a specific event rather reflected long -standing strategic cooperation between Islamabad and Riyadh.
The agreement marks an important step in bilateral links, which have long been based on close defense and security cooperation. For decades, the Pakistani military coaches served in the kingdom rich in oil, while Riyad has extended a generous financial support to Islamabad during the economic crises.
The Prime Minister’s visit, associated with the signing of the pact, underlines Islamabad’s efforts to cement the links with the kingdom at political and security levels, even though the two countries continue to explore enlarged economic cooperation.
Meanwhile, answering another question, the spokesman said that the Bagram air base issue was between the United States and Afghanistan. He spoke in the context of a declaration by President Donald Trump who said Thursday that he would regain control of the Bagram military base.
