Pakistan says its nuclear program can be made available to Saudi Arabia under defense pact
Pakistan’s defense minister said his nation’s nuclear program “will be made available” to Saudi Arabia if needed under the countries’ new defense pact, marking the first specific acknowledgment that Islamabad had put the kingdom under its nuclear umbrella.
Defense Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif’s comments late Thursday night underlined the importance of the pact struck this week between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, which have had military ties for decades.
Speaking to Geo TV in an interview, Asif made the comments while answering a question on 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. Since then, we have forces trained for the battlefield,” Asif said.
“What we have, and the capabilities we possess, will be made available to (Saudi Arabia) according to this agreement,” he added.
The two countries signed a defense deal Wednesday declaring that an attack on one nation would be an attack on both.
Pakistan faced US sanctions for years over its pursuit of the bomb, and saw new ones imposed over its ballistic missile work at the end of the Biden administration.
Neither country has responded to questions about the pact and what it meant in regards to possibly accessing Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal.
Pakistan developed its nuclear weapons program to counter India’s atomic bombs. The two neighbors have fought multiple wars against each other and again came close to open warfare after an attack on tourists in April in Indian-controlled Kashmir. India is believed to have an estimated 172 nuclear warheads, while Pakistan has 170, according to the US-published Bulletin of Atomic Scientists.
