Overview

• The two governments signed a mutual-defense agreement Wednesday stating an attack on one will be treated as an attack on both.
• Pakistan’s defense minister said Thursday that all national “capabilities,” including nuclear assets, would be available to Saudi Arabia under the pact, calling the arrangement defensive.
• Saudi Arabia has no nuclear weapons, and the pledge injects deliberate ambiguity over whether Islamabad is extending a de facto nuclear umbrella.
• The accord follows an Israeli strike in Qatar that heightened regional questions about how much protection Washington can or will provide.
• The deal builds on decades of military cooperation, with 1,500–2,000 Pakistani personnel training Saudi forces, and analysts say U.S. officials are likely to read the move as a vote of no confidence.