Defence minister skirts ‘nukes’ question

Asif says defence pact has formalised relationship between KSA, Pakistan

ISLAMABAD:  Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has said that the recently signed Pak-Saudi defence pact had “formalised” a relationship between the two countries that was previously “a bit transactional” while skirting a question regarding whether or not this agreement involved nuclear weapons.

Asif made the remarks during an interview.

Previously, Asif had suggested that Pakistan’s nuclear capabilities could be made available to Riyadh under the new framework. However, in a subsequent interview the minister denied that nuclear weapons were part of the accord, saying they were “not on the radar”.

“How much of it is a reaction to the Israeli bombing of Qatar?” he asked.

“It is not a reaction to what happened in Qatar because this was being negotiated for quite some time. So it’s not a reaction; perhaps it must have sped it up a bit but that is all. It was already in the offing,“ Asif replied.

“Is Saudi Arabia protected by Pakistan’s nuclear umbrella per this agreement or not?”

“We have had a very long defence relationship with Saudi Arabia, spanning five or six decades. We had a military presence over there, perhaps more than four or five thousand at the peak and we still have military presence over there. I think we have just formalised that relationship which was previously a bit transactional,” Asif responded to the question.

However, the minister refrained from going into the details. “I will refrain from going into the details but it’s a defence pact and defence pacts are normally not discussed publicly,” he said. Staff Report