Aug 11, 2026 16:44 pm IST

Opinion | Pakistan Might Just Have Signed Itself Into A Difficult Trap With Its 'Saudi' Deal

The Saudi-Pak-Turkey agreement gives Saudi Arabia a shield. But for Pakistan, it could quickly become a strategic nightmare

Tara Kartha Tara Kartha Columnist

Tara Kartha Columnist

A very strange pact has now been sealed and signed, and is now presumably to be implemented. The Makkah Al-Mukarramah Summit for Joint Defence became one of the most significant events of the year last week, with every country looking out for the coming changes. Certainly, the statement seemed to point to a collective defence framework, without any accompanying references to a possible structure. The actual text of the agreement remains classified, so this could still evolve down the road. But the problem is its implementation on the ground, particularly where Pakistan is concerned. It is all very intriguing and needs some careful examination.

Collective Defence And Nuclear Deterrence

First, the statement itself. Once you sift through the very many respectful references to the titles held by each signatory, and the usual language of 'commitment to stability' and so on, what remains is one paragraph that says that the agreement is "intended to strengthen collective deterrence against any act of aggression, and stipulates that any armed attack against one of the three States shall be regarded as an attack against them all". That's collective defence, plain and simple. But the text quietly skips a definite deterrent commitment, which is only to be 'strengthened'. That's Pakistan, the only nuclear-weapon state in the triad, being extremely cautious. At least that's what is in the public version.

But The Saudis Want A Deterrant

Now look at potential cooperation. It is entirely possible that the Saudis will again finance an expansion of Pakistan's nuclear capabilities to provide that very deterrent. A similar assistance by Riyadh in the 1990s had become apparent when Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz toured Pakistan's secret nuclear facilities at Kahuta in May 1999, accompanied by Nawaz Sharif and briefed by AQ Khan, the 'father' of Pakistan's nuclear bomb; all this when even Benazir Bhutto was denied entry to the facility when she was Prime Minister. As of today, the Prince remains the only foreigner to have ever made such a visit. At the time, there was some alarm that Riyadh might be looking for its own nuclear capabilities. The Saudis, after all, had never made any secret of their nuclear ambitions, which was understandable given that Israel was a nuclear-powered state and Iran was on the path towards becoming one. 

Returning to the present day, just months ago, the US Department of Energy announced that the US and Saudi Arabia had reached an agreement on a civil nuclear deal, also called the '123 Agreement', that extended a 30-year civil nuclear agreement........

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