The announcement of a mutual defence pact between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan could have consequences that will go far beyond what is being seen as the House of Saud buying an extra insurance cover against a possible Israeli attack.

The pact was revealed just days after Israel’s strike on Qatar, an event that underscored the frailty of American guarantees to its allies and forced Riyadh to expand on an earlier pact with Islamabad, which allowed for use of Pakistani forces on Saudi soil.

That the Saudis have now turned to Islamabad, and by extension Beijing, to underwrite their defence raises the most uncomfortable of questions: If even Riyadh no longer trusts American protection, would anyone........

© Free Press Journal