Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif has said that Pakistan’s nuclear program will be ‘available’ to Saudi Arabia if needed under the recent defense agreement between Riyadh and Islamabad.
On Wednesday, the two countries signed a defense pact declaring that an attack on either country would be considered an attack on both.
The importance of this defense agreement is highlighted in the defense minister’s interview in a program of private TV channel Geo News on Thursday night.
According to the news agency AP, the two countries have had military relations for decades.
Khawaja Asif gave this statement in response to the question whether ‘the defense protection that Pakistan has with nuclear weapons, will it be provided to Saudi Arabia as well?’
He replied, ‘Let me make one thing clear about Pakistan’s nuclear capability: this capability was established when we conducted nuclear tests. Since then our forces have been trained for the battlefield.’
“Whatever we have and what capabilities we have will be provided (to Saudi Arabia) according to this agreement,” he added.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, with which the two countries have nuclear monitoring agreements, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Pakistani defense minister’s remarks.
Khawaja Asif criticized Israel in the interview for not fully disclosing its suspected nuclear weapons program to the IAEA.
Israel has not commented on the defense agreement between the two countries.
Khawaja Asif further said that ‘we have not named any country whose attack would automatically lead to retaliatory action. Neither Saudi Arabia named any country nor we.
‘It is an umbrella system, offered by both sides to each other: if there is aggression against one side – from either side – it will be jointly defended and the aggression will be responded to.’
Asked if other countries could join the deal, the defense minister said, “I can say that the door is not closed for others.”
‘The defense agreement will create stability in the region’
Meanwhile, Shafqat Khan, the spokesperson of the Pakistani Foreign Office in Islamabad, said in the weekly press briefing today, in response to questions regarding the recent agreement between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, “the recent defense agreement between the two countries will create stability in the region.”
In the briefing, journalists questioned that ‘Is this agreement only to target Israel or does it have a wider agenda? Is Pakistan now offering its nuclear assets to a third country?
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According to correspondent Mona Khan, in response to these questions, the spokesperson of the Foreign Office said, ‘Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have a historic brotherly relationship, which is now being taken to new heights. The goal is only stability. Economic development will also continue with defense cooperation.’
He further said that the defense agreement between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia shows commitment to common security and countering the threats of terrorism.
“Pakistan is committed to peace, security and stability in the region with Saudi Arabia.”
Pakistan Afghanistan relations
Spokesperson of the Foreign Office, Shafqat Ali Khan, said that the Afghanistan authorities have been informed about the recent incidents of terrorism and loss of lives of security forces in Bannu and Pakistan’s message and warnings have been conveyed to them.
Zalmay Khalilzad’s anti-Pakistan statements are not new, so it is not necessary to respond to them.
He said that the message of the Prime Minister of Pakistan is very clear and publicly available.
Reaction to India’s anti-Pakistan narrative
On India’s anti-Pakistan statements, the spokesperson of the Foreign Office said that India’s patronage of terrorism and sabotage in Pakistan is obvious to all.
‘India should stop spreading unrest from foreign lands and improve its human rights record.’
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