 "How wary should India be of the Pakistan and Saudi Arabia defence pact?")
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have signed a new defence deal.
The pact between the two countries comes in the backdrop of a visit from Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to Saudi Arabia.
The agreement contains a Nato-like clause which says an attack on one nation will be considered as an attack on both countries. India has said it will “study the implications of this development for our national security as well as for regional and global stability.”
It comes days after Sharif attended the Arab-Islamic summit that was held by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Doha following Israel’s strike on Hamas leaders in Qatar last week. That attack came as discussions were ongoing about a potential ceasefire proposal in Gaza.
The development also comes in the aftermath of India conducting Operation Sindoor in May in which it hit terror targets across Pakistan including installations deep into its territory. India did so as a response to the Pahalgam terror attack in April in which 26 people were killed.
But what do we know about the defence pact? How do the Pakistani and Saudi militaries stack up against India? What about India’s ties with the Saudis?
Let’s take a closer look
Pakistan-Saudi defence pact
The pact is known as the Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement. It was signed following talks between Sharif and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh. Sharif had travelled to Saudi Arabia at the invitation of the Crown Prince. Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, widely considered the most powerful man in the country, was also in attendance.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia released a statement reading, “The two sides reviewed the historic and strategic relations between both countries, and a number of topics of common interest."
It said the deal extends the “historic partnership extending for nearly eight decades” between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. It said this is based on the “bonds of brotherhood and Islamic solidarity, as well as shared strategic interests and close defence cooperation between the two countries.”
“This agreement, which reflects the shared commitment of both nations to enhance their security and to achieving security and peace in the region and the world, aims to develop aspects of defence cooperation between the two countries and strengthen joint deterrence against any aggression. The agreement states that any aggression against either country shall be considered an aggression against both,” it adds.
Saudi Arabia has denied that the defence pact with Pakistan has to do with recent events.
“This agreement is a culmination of years of discussions. This is not a response to specific countries or specific events but an institutionalisation of longstanding and deep cooperation between our two countries,” a senior Saudi official said.
The two countries have remained security partners for decades without any formal treaty.
Pakistan has trained more than 8,200 Saudi military personnel since 1967, and both countries have held joint exercises regularly. Saudi Arabia has in turn been a key supplier of oil and financial aid to Islamabad.
How their militaries stack up against India.
First, let’s take a look at the three countries’ defence budgets.
At $78.3 billion (Rs 6.89 lakh crore), Saudi Arabia’s defence budget is nearly the same as India’s budget of $78.3 billion (Rs 6.90 lakh crore). Pakistan, on the other hand, has a relatively meagre defence budget of $9 billion (Rs 79,300 crore).
Saudi Arabia spends around 7 per cent of its GDP on defence, Pakistan around 3.8 per cent and India around 1.9 per cent.
According to the Global Firepower Index 2025, Saudi Arabia ranks 24th globally compared to 12th for Pakistan. India, which sits at the 4th position, is way ahead.
When it comes to the military, Saudi Arabia has just 257,000 active personnel compared to 654,000 active soldiers for Pakistan and 1.4 million for India. While Saudi Arabia has no reserve personnel, Pakistan has around 550,000 reserve personnel while India has 1.15 million in reserves. Saudi Arabia has 150,000 paramilitary troops, while Pakistan has around 291,000 in its paramilitary.
India dwarfs both these nations comfortably with a paramilitary force of 2.5 million. However, these figures must be put in the context of their respective populations of 1.4 billion for India, 252 million for Pakistan and just 36 million for Saudi Arabia. India thus has a much larger pool of military age men to draw from.
Saudi Arabia has around 283 fighter aircraft, Pakistan has around 328 fighter planes and India has around 513 fighter jets. However, experts are raising concerns about the declining numbers when it comes to India’s Air Force and the fact that the Pakistani and Chinese air forces combined easily outnumber the IAF. Pakistan is also embarking on a modernisation programme of its Air Force.
Saudi Arabia is said to have around 840 main battle tanks, 780 light armoured vehicles, and around 1,423 armoured troop carriers. Pakistan has around 2,627 tanks, while India has around 4,200 main battle tanks.
India has two aircraft carriers – INS Vikrant, Vikramaditya – while Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have none. It bears mentioning that India and Pakistan have nuclear weapons while Saudi Arabia does not. In fact, Pakistan remains the only Islamic state to possess nuclear weapons.
India’s ties with Saudi
India and Saudi Arabia first established diplomatic relations in 1947. Since then, the two countries have shared a friendly and cordial relationship. King Abdullah’s visit to India in 2006 was a historic breakthrough. Relations were elevated to a strategic partnership in 2010 when then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited Riyadh.
Since taking power in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has visited Saudi Arabia on three occasions – in 2016, in 2019 and 2025. Modi on his first state trip to the Kingdom was awarded the King Abdulaziz Sash, which is Saudi Arabia’s high civilian honour.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visited India in 2019. During this visit, it was announced that the kingdom would invest $100 billion (Rs 8.81 lakh crore) in India and half a dozen memorandums of understanding (MoUs) were signed.
Today, India is Saudi Arabia’s second biggest trading partner, while Riyadh is New Delhi’s fifth largest trading partner. In FY 2023-24, bilateral trade stood at $42.98 billion (Rs 3.79 lakh crore), with Indian exports at $11.56 billion (Rs 1.02 lakh crore) and imports at $31.42 billion (Rs 2.77 lakh crore).
The defence partnership has gone from strength to strength in recent years. New Delhi and Riyadh have conducted two bilateral naval exercises of the ‘Al Mohed Al Hindi’ thus far. The first ever joint land force exercise between the two countries ‘Ex-Sada Tanseeq I’ occurred in February 2024. That same month, Munitions India Ltd signed a $225 million (Rs 19,820 crore) defence export deal with Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabian officials say their state remains cognisant about the need to balance relations with India.
“Our relationship with India is more robust than it has ever been. We will continue to grow this relationship and seek to contribute to regional peace whichever way we can,” the official said.
Saudi Arabia had strongly condemned the Pahalgam terror attack during Modi’s visit earlier this year. A joint statement said that the two sides agreed that “there cannot be any justification for any act of terror for any reason whatsoever.”
Saudi Arabia also sent Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubair to India following the launch of Operation Sindoor.
Asked whether Pakistan would be obliged to provide Saudi Arabia with a nuclear umbrella under the pact, the official replied, “This is a comprehensive defensive agreement that encompasses all military means.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vowed that India will no longer suffer nuclear blackmail and make no distinction against state and non-state actors when it comes to terror activities. However, given the growing relationship between New Delhi and Riyadh, it is unlikely that India needs to concern itself with the agreement.
‘Will study implications’
India has said it is committed to safeguarding the national interest and ensuring “comprehensive national security in all domains."
“We have seen reports of the signing of a strategic mutual defence pact between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. The Government was aware that this development, which formalises a long-standing arrangement between the two countries, had been under consideration,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.
“We will study the implications of this development for our national security, as well as for regional and global stability. The Government remains committed to protecting India’s national interests and ensuring comprehensive national security in all domains,” he added.
With inputs from agencies
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