Written by / Wang Tian (Director of the Northwestern University International Strategic Research Center) Editor / Curry School / Li Li

Saudi Arabia and Pakistan officially sign joint strategic defense agreement in Riyadh

A deal signed between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan has caused international shock.

Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed a defence agreement on Saturday that stipulates that any attack on one of the countries will be treated as an attack on both sides.

The agreement states that any attack on Saudi Arabia or Pakistan is an attack on both countries. In addition, Saudi Crown Prince mohammed bin salman and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met in Riyadh on the same day, discussed ways to strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries in various fields, and exchanged views on regional and international developments, issues of common concern and efforts to achieve security and stability.

Asked whether Pakistan was obliged to provide Saudi Arabia with nuclear protection under the agreement, a senior Saudi official said: ¡°This is a comprehensive defense agreement that covers all military means.¡±

The military concerns between the two countries It has a deep history. The View

The military relationship between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia is not a "whim", but has a profound historical background.

The two countries, although geographically distant, have inherent opportunities for cooperation in terms of religious thought, geopolitics, and economic structure.

On a religious and ideological level, both Saudi and Pakistan adhere to Islamic Sunniism; on a geopolitical level, both Saudi and Pakistan have long been vigilant and attentive to Iran¡¯s strategic dynamics; and in terms of economic structure, Pakistan hopes to receive economic assistance from Saudi Arabia.

It can be said that military cooperation between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia has established a very solid foundation in history.

After the 1950s, military cooperation between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia gradually became closer.

Saudi Arabia began to hire Pakistani soldiers as military advisers and military instructors to help train the Saudi army. With the take-off of Saudi oil economy in 1970s, Saudi Arabia was able to use more economic resources and strengthen military cooperation with Pakistan.

Since then, more and more Pakistani military personnel have come to Saudi Arabia, serving in the Saudi army, and even taking on defense tasks directly in the Saudi army.

In the late 1970s, a dramatic political change in the Middle East brought new opportunities for military cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

The outbreak of the Iranian Islamic Revolution stimulated the rise of Islamic political thought in the Middle East, Iran¡¯s ¡°revolution export¡± in the surrounding region, and also made Saudi Arabia feel direct strategic pressure.

In 1979, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan caused Saudi Arabia and Pakistan to feel a common strategic pressure.At the end of that year, the ¡°Mekkah Mosque incident¡± that broke out in Saudi Arabia was finally settled with the help of the Pakistani army.

Pakistani and Saudi flag data map

Pakistan plays an important role in Saudi military defense

History often turns back.

Before and after the end of the Cold War, Saudi Arabia gradually tended to use the defense forces of the United States to safeguard national security.

Following the 1990 Gulf Crisis, Saudi Arabia, in the face of the military threat from Iraq, used U.S. military power to strengthen national security capabilities. During this period, a large number of U.S. troops entered Saudi Arabia and deeply shaped the close cooperation between Saudi Arabia and the United States for more than thirty years.

In contrast, military cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan has slowed.

After 2001, with the United States launching the Middle East "war on terror", the United States simultaneously promoted close cooperation with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, and Saudi and Pakistan's relations in the field of military cooperation were continued.

In 2015, when the Yemeni civil war escalated, Saudi Arabia decided to intervene in Yemen, while hoping that Pakistan would send a large-scale military force into Yemen to help Saudi Arabia fight the Houthi armed forces in northern Yemen.

However, Pakistan still plays an important role in Saudi Arabia's military defense. In terms of logistics equipment and equipment maintenance, Pakistani military personnel assist the Saudi army in logistics and maintenance work; In terms of information exchange, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan cooperate on anti-terrorism and anti-extremism issues; In the field of economic cooperation, Saudi Arabia provides economic assistance and support to Pakistan through economic assistance, low-priced oil and relaxation of Pakistani workers' entry.

In 2019, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed a $20 billion investment agreement and Memorandum of Understanding, which will prioritize investment and trade cooperation.According to a joint statement by the two countries at the time, Saudi Arabia will invest $20 billion in Pakistan in tourism, mining, petrochemical industry and agriculture.

Salman and Shabaz photographs

Saudi Arabia balances Israel with new external forces

The cooperation between the two countries seems sudden, but in fact there is a reason for it.

Recently, the situation in the Middle East has changed dramatically, and the Israeli air strikes on Qatar have become a key turning point.

As Israel attacked Qatar, the Gulf Arab nations showed doubts about the ¡°reliability¡± of U.S. military protection. The Gulf nations traditionally relying on the U.S. as a security guarantor are deeply disturbed.

For a long time, the Gulf Arab countries have tended to give up their defense capabilities and rely on U.S. military assistance to protect their troops.

On the one hand, the Gulf Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia purchased large amounts of military equipment from the United States, thereby linking the U.S. military-industrial group and Saudi security relations, which allowed the United States to provide military protection to Saudi Arabia on major issues in the Middle East.

On the other hand, the United States also attaches greater importance to the economic potential of the Gulf Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia, especially hoping to reboost the U.S. own industrial production capacity by signing various types of economic and military cooperation agreements with the Gulf Arab countries.

However, this situation has changed.

With Israel¡¯s ¡°four strikes¡± in the Middle East, especially its recent military strikes on Qatar, it shows that the United States may abandon security concerns of the Gulf Arab countries in the face of complex geological issues.

As one of the most important "unbreakable alliances" of the United States, Israeli fighter jets attacked at will in the Middle East. They were neither intercepted by U.S. military bases in the Middle East, nor were they directly intervened and held accountable by the United States. They only verbally criticized "three glasses of wine". "It was done hastily.

More importantly, in the view of the Arab countries, the recent four-faceted attacks of Israel have not only weakened surrounding threat forces such as Hamas, Lebanese "Hezbollah" and the Syrian government, but also repeatedly directly targeted the mainland of Iran, and Israel's "aggressive" stance has become increasingly evident.

In this context, Saudi Arabia hopes to balance Israel with new external forces, while filling up the possible US defense ¡°disappearance.¡±

In addition, it is worth noting that Pakistan possesses nuclear weapons. The signing of the defense agreement also means that Saudi Arabia has a nuclear umbrella in a certain sense.

Important milestone in the Gulf Arab countries¡¯ military defense autonomy

The signing of defence agreements between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, the further strengthening of military cooperation between the two countries, also symbolizes a decline in the Gulf Arabs¡¯ confidence in the U.S. military.

The development of relevant military cooperation symbolizes the important attempt of the Gulf Arab countries to explore military autonomy and defense independence, which will have a significant impact on future relations between the Gulf Arab countries, the situation in the Middle East and even the overall international strategic situation.

Of course, it should be noted that Saudi and Pakistani defence cooperation is difficult to completely replace the importance of the United States for Saudi military defence.

Although Pakistan possesses nuclear weapons, its overall military strength is still limited, and its direct intervention in regional issues also faces many domestic constraints.

At the same time, in addition to Pakistan, Saudi Arabia is also actively promoting military cooperation mechanisms with other Gulf Arab countries under the framework of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Therefore, the military cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan should not be underestimated, but it should not be overestimated.

However, as a direct response to the lack of defense responsibilities in the U.S. region, the military cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan can be seen as an important milestone in the military defense autonomy of Gulf Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia.

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