Unlike the earlier pacts signed by Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, the recent signing of the Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement between both countries in Riyadh has emerged as much more than a significant development for both states. This is chiefly because the newly signed agreement boldly reiterated that “aggression against either country shall be considered aggression against both.” Kudos to Pakistan’s foreign mission for its decade-long hard work, which was expedited, especially under the patronage of the current hybrid regime led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, with a predominant yet discreet role played by Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir in making this happen. Over and above a phenomenal global development, the pact between Pakistan, the world’s only nuclear-powered Muslim state, and Saudi Arabia, the citadel of Islam, heralds a multidimensional approach that is not only overly ambitious in nature but has loads of far-reaching implications for the world in general and for the Muslim ummah in particular. Most of all, the timing of the development says it all, as the Pakistan-Saudi defence deal was inked days after the Israeli attack on Qatar, which, at last, culminated as a final wake-up call for the Gulf Arabs, which at this moment took no time to realise that, in spite of their so-called deep strategic ties with the United States, the latter is unlikely to come to their defence.
Most importantly, the emergence of Pakistan as the saviour of the filthy-rich Arab world is not a matter of mere coincidence but a fated outcome of the military excellence manifest by Pakistan’s armed forces time and again, not to exclude the four-day war in May 2025, with India, which, despite its six-time high military size, had to bite the dust at the hands of Pakistani forces. The Pakistan-Saudi defence agreement could be referred to as a diplomatic and geopolitical victory for Islamabad, which is now eying the rest of the Gulf to sign similar pacts with Pakistan to ensure the collective security of the Middle East region. Thanks to Israel’s unbridled assertion of power and violence in connivance with New Delhi, both countries may also have set in motion something they have long feared: the birth of a Muslim military alliance. The moment has come for the Islamic world to seize the moment by inviting the other Muslim states, beyond the Middle East region, to get on the bandwagon in order to strengthen their mutual defence capabilities and operate as a single, unified, and solidified force against any military aggression threatening their peace and order.
However, many people, carried away with their Islamic brotherhood sentiments, now foresee the ultimate rise of the Muslim NATO, along the lines of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO, an intergovernmental military alliance between European and North American states. Yet, Islamabad this time needs to resist its ideological temptation to brandish its Muslim nuclear-state credentials and should not overplay the historical ‘pact’ as it will first antagonize the Western powers and then later offer them a justifiable excuse to target Pakistan’s nuclear assets. At this crucial juncture, the need of the hour is to take the middle path instead of coating the move with religious interpretations, laced with self-aggrandizement and boastfulness. ‘Charh ja beta sooli par Ram bhali kare gaa’ seems to be a sane proverbial advice in folklore fiction, but in global diplomacy, the same leads to nothing more than a suicidal course already taken by the nation during the Afghan jihad.