Could Saudi Defense Pact Fuel Pak’s Aggression Against India?

RIYADH- Even though Saudi Arabia understands the root causes of the conflict between India and Pakistan, its recent defense pact with Islamabad can embolden the Pakistani military and the jihadi groups to target India, a report said on September 20.

It emphasized that Saudi Arabia is in no position to dismantle Pakistan’s jihadi outfits and end its longstanding policy of using terrorism as a weapon against India.

Pakistan has territorial claims on India, which it is determined to maintain, and it has an Army Chief who is a hardliner Islamist known for provocative rhetoric against India and Hindus.

“The announcement of a strategic defense pact between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan has many ramifications for us and for the region. India has reacted immediately, which means that we are seriously concerned and want to make our position known without delay,” wrote Kanwal Sibal, a distinguished Indian diplomat and former Foreign Secretary of India, in ‘India Narrative’.

“We have frontally stated our serious concerns about the impact of this development on our national security as well as on regional and global stability. By underscoring in the context of this defense pact our commitment to protect our national interests and to ensure comprehensive national security in all domains, we have been unusually forthright,” he added.

The highly-respected expert stressed that India has reacted so strongly, likely because of the clause in the pact, highlighted in the Saudi statement which stated that aggression against one country will be seen as aggression against the other.

He stated that, in Pakistan’s view, the only country that can commit “aggression” against it is India. Highlighting that Operation Sindoor is not over yet, Sibal questioned whether Saudi Arabia will consider it an attack on themselves if Pakistan sponsors another major terrorist attack and India responds militarily.

“We do not, of course, expect Saudi Arabia to get directly involved in a military conflict with India. What we can expect as a result of this defense pact is Saudi financial aid to Pakistan to build its military capacities so that its security support to Saudi Arabia in the future becomes more robust,” the report noted.

“In the recent conflict with India, Pakistan has suffered major damage to its air bases, and it would now be looking to fill the gaps in its air defenses in particular. This would require a lot of money, which Pakistan can ill afford, given the state of its economy,” it added. (IANS)