Pakistan-Saudi Defence deal: Nuclear programme will be made available to Saudi under new pact, says Defence Minister Khawaja

Pakistan’s Defence Minister said the country’s nuclear programme “will be made available” to Saudi Arabia if needed under the countries’ new defence pact, marking the first specific acknowledgment that Islamabad had put the kingdom under its nuclear umbrella.

Defence Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif’s comments late Thursday (September 18, 2025) night underlined the importance of the pact struck this week between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, which have had military ties for decades.

The move is seen by analysts as a signal to Israel, long believed to be the Middle East’s only nuclear-armed nation. It comes after Israel’s attack targeting Hamas leaders in Qatar last week killed six people and sparked new concerns among Gulf Arab nations about their safety amid the Israel-Hamas war that’s devastated the Gaza Strip and set the region on edge.

Speaking to Geo TV in an interview, Mr. Asif made the comments while answering a question on whether “the deterrence that Pakistan gets from nuclear weapons” will be made available to Saudi Arabia.

“Let me make one point clear about Pakistan’s nuclear capability: that capability was established long ago when we conducted tests. Since then, we have forces trained for the battlefield,” Mr. Asif said.

“What we have, and the capabilities we possess, will be made available to (Saudi Arabia) according to this agreement,” he added.

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The two countries signed a defence deal Wednesday declaring that an attack on one nation would be an attack on both.

Neither country has responded to questions about the pact and what it meant in regards to possibly accessing Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal.

Saudi Arabia has long been linked to Pakistan’s nuclear programme. Retired Pakistani Brigadier General Feroz Hassan Khan has said Saudi Arabia provided “generous financial support to Pakistan that enabled the nuclear programme to continue, especially when the country was under sanctions.”

Pakistan faced U.S. sanctions for years over its pursuit of the bomb, and saw new ones imposed over its ballistic missile work at the end of the Biden administration.

Pakistan developed its nuclear weapons programme to counter India’s atomic bombs. India is believed to have an estimated 172 nuclear warheads, while Pakistan has 170, according to the U.S.-published Bulletin of Atomic Scientists.