The Ministry of External Affairs on Friday said that New Delhi expects that India and Saudi Arabia’s mutual interests will be kept in mind as Riyadh enters into a defence pact with Pakistan.

“India and Saudi Arabia, we have a wide-ranging strategic partnership which has deepened in the last several years considerably,” ministry Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said during a press briefing. “We expect that this strategic partnership will keep in mind mutual interest and sensitivities.”

The spokesperson made the comment while responding to a reporter’s question about the mutual defence agreement that Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed on Wednesday. The pact states that aggression against either country would be considered an attack on both nations.

India had said on Thursday that it was studying the implications of the agreement on its security.

An unidentified senior Saudi official had told Reuters on Wednesday that the agreement was not a response to any specific country or situation, but was “an institutionalisation of longstanding and deep cooperation between our two countries”.

The official added: “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 agreement came two days after a joint session of the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Qatar held following Israel’s attack on some leaders of the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Qatari capital Doha on September 9.

The Hamas members had gathered in Doha to discuss a United States-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal.

Arab and Islamic nations have condemned the attack.

Qatar is a major ally of the US and hosts one of the largest American military bases in the region. Washington is also an ally of Israel and acts as a guarantor of the country’s security.

On Thursday, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said it was aware that the arrangement between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan had been under consideration.

“We will study the implications of this development for our national security as well as for regional and global stability,” the ministry stated. “The government remains committed to protecting India’s national interests and ensuring comprehensive national security in all domains.”

The pact between Islamabad and Riyadh came four months after a brief military conflict between India and Pakistan.

Tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad escalated on May 7 when the Indian military carried out strikes – codenamed Operation Sindoor – on what it claimed were terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

The strikes were in response to the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, which killed 26 persons on April 22.

The Pakistan Army retaliated to Indian strikes by repeatedly shelling Indian villages along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. At least 22 Indian civilians and eight defence personnel were killed in the shelling.

While India and Pakistan on May 10 reached an “understanding” to halt firing following the four-day conflict, New Delhi has said that Operation Sindoor is now India’s policy against cross-border terrorism.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said on May 12 that India had “only paused our retaliatory action on Pakistan’s terrorist and military infrastructures for now” and that Islamabad’s actions will be observed.

Nuclear programme can be made available to Riyadh, says Pakistan

Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif told Geo TV on Friday that Islamabad’s nuclear programme “will be made available” to Saudi Arabia if needed under the defence pact. This was the first acknowledgment that Pakistan would bring Saudi Arabia under its nuclear umbrella.

Asif made the comment while responding to a question about whether “the deterrence that Pakistan gets from nuclear weapons” will be made available to Saudi Arabia.

“Let me make one point clear about Pakistan’s nuclear capability: that capability was established long ago when we conducted tests,” the Associated Press quoted Asif as having told the Pakistani news channel. “Since then, we have forces trained for the battlefield.”

“What we have, and the capabilities we possess, will be made available to [Saudi Arabia] according to this agreement,” he said.

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