Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed a 'Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement' on Wednesday. The pact was inked during Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s state visit to the kingdom.
The defence agreement comes after Israel launched missile strikes in Qatar while targeting the Hamas leadership. The move is being seen as a signal to the United States, which failed to protect its ally, Qatar, from Israeli strikes. Its implications are also being studied in India.
India's Operation Sindoor to be impacted?
Notably, a key clause in the pact states that "any aggression against either country shall be considered an aggression against both".
India has conducted several military operations against terror launchpads in Pakistan.
And some of those military operations have spiralled into full-fledged confrontations with the Pakistani military. The latest example being Operation Sindoor.
On May 7, India launched a special military operation in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation to the Pahalgam terror attacks.
India had accused Pakistan of harbouring the terrorists who attacked tourists in the Kashmir region.
India's drone and missile strikes were met with similar attacks from the Pakistani side.
Though a temporary ceasefire was reached, the Indian government had said that Operation Sindoor was halted, and not ended.
The latest defence pact could throw a spanner in the works for the Indian military in a similar situation.
India reacts to Pak-Saudi defence pact
Reacting to the development, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said that the government was aware of this “long-standing arrangement”, and added that it remains committed to protecting India's national interests.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have a defence relationship stretching back decades, in part due to Islamabad’s willingness to defend the Islamic holy sites of Mecca and Medina in the kingdom.
Those ties strengthened after Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution and the kingdom’s concerns about a potential confrontation with Tehran.
Saudi Arabia also maintains close ties with India, and has routinely expressed support for combating terrorism.
