{"id":5355,"date":"2025-09-27T12:30:52","date_gmt":"2025-09-27T12:30:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/?p=5355"},"modified":"2025-09-27T12:30:53","modified_gmt":"2025-09-27T12:30:53","slug":"defence-minister-skirts-nukes-question-says-defence-pact-has-formalised-relationship-between-ksa-pakistan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/?p=5355","title":{"rendered":"Defence minister skirts \u2018nukes\u2019 question, says defence pact has formalised relationship between KSA, Pakistan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has said that the recently signed Pak-Saudi defence pact<\/a> had \u201cformalised\u201d a relationship between the two countries that was previously \u201ca bit transactional\u201d while skirting a question regarding whether or not this agreement involved nuclear weapons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asif made the remarks during an interview<\/a> with journalist Mehdi Hasan for Zeteo<\/em>. The full interview is behind a paywall but the media company has shared a five-minute preview as well as clips on social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On September 17, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had signed a \u201cStrategic Mutual Defence Agreement\u201d in Riyadh, pledging that any attack on either nation would be treated as an act of aggression against both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The timing of the accord, coming on the heels of an Arab summit<\/a> that signalled a shift towards collective security \u2014 in the wake of Israel\u2019s attack<\/a> on Qatar \u2014 hints that it is rooted in current world affairs and reflects the defence concerns of both countries. It also comes just months after a deadly India-Pakistan conflict in May, as well as the 12-day war between Iran and Israel in June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Previously, Asif had suggested<\/a> that Pakistan\u2019s 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 \u201cnot on the radar\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the preview posted on Zeteo\u2019s<\/em> website on Friday night, Hasan asked Asif about the defence pact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow much of it is a reaction to the Israeli bombing of Qatar<\/a>?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is not a reaction to what happened in Qatar because this was being negotiated for quite some time. So it\u2019s not a reaction; perhaps it must have sped it up a bit but that is all. It was already in the offing,\u201c Asif replied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hasan then pointed out that Pakistan was the only nuclear power in the Muslim world, noting that Saudi Arabia had expressed interest in being the second. He also pointed out that Asif had previously stated<\/a> that nuclear weapons \u201cwere not on the radar\u201d for this pact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIs Saudi Arabia protected by Pakistan\u2019s nuclear umbrella per this agreement or not?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe 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,\u201d Asif responded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFormalised with or without the nukes?\u201d Hasan probed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the minister refrained from going into the details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI will refrain from going into the details but it\u2019s a defence pact and defence pacts are normally not discussed publicly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hasan then pointed out that journalist Bob Woodward, in his 2024 book War<\/em>, had quoted Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman telling a US senator that he could \u201cjust buy\u201d a bomb from Pakistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think that is just sensationalised [\u2026] No, I don\u2019t believe that quote,\u201d the minister replied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo you are not in the business of selling nuclear weapons to Saudi Arabia?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo. We are very responsible people,\u201d Asif responded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Pak-China ties<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In a separate video shared on Instagram, Hasan asked the minister whether Pakistan\u2019s now close relationship with the United States could jeapardise its vital relationship with China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cObviously, America and China are at loggerheads,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, we are not worried about that because it\u2019s a time-tested relationship with China since the late 50s,\u201d Asif replied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

When probed further about Pakistan \u201cflirting\u201d with the US, the minister said that China was not worried in this regard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIs your strategic future with China or with the US? It can\u2019t be both,\u201d Hasan pointed out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The minister responded by saying that China had been a \u201cvery reliable ally\u201d for Pakistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA major portion of our arms are from China. And our defence cooperation is increasing. It is much more robust than before,\u201d he said, adding that this was due to the \u201cunreliability of other sources, like the US\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo are you basically saying that your strategic future is with China, not the US?\u201d Hasan asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah [\u2026] they are reliable and they are our neighbours. We share borders and we share geography,\u201d the minister said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Imran Khan\u2019s arrest<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In another clip posted on Instagram, Hasan asked about incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan and asked why he had been arrested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the problem with Pakistan: you all imprison each other every time you come into power [\u2026] If it was unjust to you, isn\u2019t it unjust to Imran?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The minister asserted that it was not a tit-for-tat measure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Hasan then pointed out Amnesty International had released a report on Imran\u2019s arrest while a United Nations group had said that there was no legal basis for Imran\u2019s imprisonment and termed it arbitrary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, I think they have an opinion with which I disagree,\u201d Asif responded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTheir opinion is that you are breaking the law,\u201d Hasan said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, we aren\u2019t breaking the law,\u201d Asif asserted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPakistan has a situation whereby we are trying to recover from a very, very \u2014 misrule or bad rule or whatever you can call it \u2014 for three-and-a-half years,\u201d the minister said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also further said that whole families were arrested during Imran\u2019s tenure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has said that the recently signed Pak-Saudi defence pact had \u201cformalised\u201d a relationship between the two countries that was previously \u201ca bit transactional\u201d while skirting a question regarding whether or not this agreement involved nuclear weapons. Asif made the remarks during an interview with journalist Mehdi Hasan for Zeteo. The full interview is behind a paywall […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5356,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_3859443944190656_828796993651875":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5355","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5355"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5355\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5357,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5355\/revisions\/5357"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}