# Saudi Arabia and Pakistan sign mutual defence pact in Riyadh
Event date: 2025-09-17
Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have signed a formal mutual defence agreement that deepens a decades-old security partnership between the two countries and places their relationship on a clearer institutional footing.
The joint statement published by the Saudi Press Agency said the pact covers a shared commitment to security and peace in the region and the world. Its central clause states that any aggression against either country will be considered aggression against both. That language turns a long-standing military relationship into a formal mutual defence commitment.
The agreement was announced after a meeting in Riyadh between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. According to the Saudi Press Agency, the two leaders discussed ways to strengthen their strategic partnership across different fields and exchanged views on regional and international developments. Sharif was in Saudi Arabia on a state visit when the pact was signed.
A senior Saudi official told Reuters the agreement was the result of years of discussion rather than a response to any single country or recent event. The official described it as a broad defensive arrangement covering all military means, while stressing that Saudi Arabia’s relationship with India remained strong.
The timing of the pact gives it added diplomatic weight. It came two days after an extraordinary joint session of the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation was called following Israel’s attack on Doha on September 9. Arab and Islamic states widely condemned that strike, which targeted Hamas political leaders as they gathered around a US-backed ceasefire proposal.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia already had deep trade and military ties, but the new agreement formalises the security dimension more explicitly. Saudi Arabia has relied for years on Pakistani training and cooperation, and the two countries have held multiple joint military exercises. The Saudi Press Agency said Pakistan has trained more than 8,200 Saudi armed forces personnel since 1967.
The pact also comes while Islamabad and New Delhi remain in a tense regional environment after a brief war in May. Even so, the Saudi official quoted by Reuters insisted that Riyadh still sees its relationship with nuclear-armed India as robust and continues to seek regional stability.
What the new arrangement means in practice will depend on how both governments interpret the “all military means” language over time. But its symbolism is immediate: two of the Muslim world’s most important security partners have now moved from close cooperation to a formal mutual defence commitment.
