Pakistan–Saudi Arabia Pact: Will Riyadh Join Islamabad in a War Against India? The Rise of an ‘Islamic NATO’?
Saudi-Pakistan defence pact is more signal than threat, but experts urge India to engage West Asia and help shape the region’s new security balance.
Veteran journalist Barkha Dutt spoke with Colonel Rajeev Agarwal, senior research consultant at the Chintan Foundation, and Ambassador Talmiz Ahmed, former Indian envoy to Saudi Arabia, on the new Saudi-Pakistan mutual defence agreement. The pact says an attack on one nation will be treated as an attack on both—drawing comparisons to NATO’s Article 5.
Ambassador Ahmed stressed that the accord is largely symbolic and aimed at Saudi Arabia’s own security after recent Israeli strikes and declining U.S. credibility in West Asia. He argued that Riyadh’s long-standing military ties with Islamabad have merely been formalised and are not directed at India. Colonel Agarwal agreed but warned that Saudi funding could still boost Pakistan’s struggling economy, indirectly enabling military modernisation or emboldening terror networks.
Both experts highlighted the shifting regional order: America’s waning influence, Israel’s assertiveness, and new alignments among Gulf states, Pakistan, Turkey, China and Russia. Ahmed urged India to play a more active diplomatic role in West Asia, using its strong economic and strategic links to help shape a new security framework rather than remain a bystander.
Barkha Dutt closed by noting that while the pact may not threaten India directly, it underlines a changing geopolitical landscape. India, she said, must avoid mere reaction and instead help shape the emerging order in its extended neighbourhood.
© 2025 MOJO STORY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Powered by Hocalwire