“The Government remains committed to protecting India’s national interests and ensuring comprehensive national security in all domains,” said the Ministry of External Affairs in response to the Saudi-Pakistan mutual defence agreement. Photo credit: X/@MEAINDIA
Hours after Pakistan signed a mutual defence agreement with Saudi Arabia, India has said that it was aware of the development and reiterated its commitment to “comprehensive national security”.
The Indian response came after Saudi Arabia and Pakistan issued a joint statement during the visit of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to Riyadh that said, “any aggression against either country shall be considered an aggression against both”.
“The Government was aware that this development, which formalizes a long-standing arrangement between the two countries, had been under consideration. We will study the implications of this development for our national security as well as for regional and global stability. The Government remains committed to protecting India’s national interests and ensuring comprehensive national security in all domains,” said the Ministry of External Affairs in response to the Saudi-Pakistan mutual defence agreement.
Following talks between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the two sides issued a joint statement on September 17 in which they highlighted bilateral relation over the past nearly eight decades and said, “This agreement which reflects the shared commitment of both nations to enhance their security and to achieving security and peace in the region and the world, aims to develop aspects of defense cooperation between the two countries and strengthen joint deterrence against any aggression. The agreement states that any aggression against either country shall be considered an aggression against both.”
Earlier on September 15, the Pakistani Prime Minister had participated in the extraordinary Arab-Islamic summit that was held by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Doha where Israel’s September 9 bombing of Qatar was condemned.
Saudi Arabia has close ties with India and had sent Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubair to New Delhi, hours after India targeted locations inside Pakistan under Operation Sindoor in the early morning of May 7. The Saudi minister also visited Pakistan after his unannounced visit of New Delhi before India and Pakistan called for ceasefire on May 10.
Saudi Arabia, one of the top energy suppliers to India is also a major employer of Indian blue and white collar expat workers in the Gulf and in recent years had gradually built military relation with India.
The inaugural Saudi-India military exercise SADA-TANSEEQ was held from January 29 to February 10 2024 in Rajasthan where a Saudi contingent had participated in the exercise with the Indian Army.
However, in comparison, the Saudi relation with Pakistan has been marked prominently by the generous support that Riyadh extended to Pakistan especially after the humiliating defeat in the 1971 India-Pakistan war. Saudi Arabia first came to Pakistan’s rescue with a $300 million assistance that King Faisal extended after meeting Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s foreign minister Aziz Ahmed in Riyadh in 1974.
Over the years, Pakistan has intensified defence cooperation with Saudi Arabia and as a recognition of that Saudi Arabia conferred then Pakistani Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa with the prestigious King Abdulaziz Medal of Excellent Class in 2022.
Published – September 18, 2025 11:40 am IST