Published on: Sept 19, 2025 04:41 pm IST
This is the first time that Pakistan has acknowledged that Saudi Arabia was now under its nuclear umbrella.
Pakistan’s defence minister, Khwaja Mohammad Asif, said late Thursday that Islamabad’s nuclear program “will be made available” to Saudi Arabia if needed under the new defence pact between both nations.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif embrace each other on the day they sign a defence agreement, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, September 17, 2025.(via REUTERS)
This is the first time that Pakistan has acknowledged that Saudi Arabia was now under its nuclear umbrella.
Speaking to Geo TV in an interview, Asif was asked 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. What we have, and the capabilities we possess, will be made available to (Saudi Arabia) according to this agreement,” Asif said.
Riyadh and Islamabad inked a defence pact on Wednesday. The pact has a NATO Article 5-like provision that stipulates that an attack on one will be an attack on both. But it wasn’t clear at that time what it meant for Islamabad’s nuclear arsenal.
What does Pakistan’s extension of its nuclear program to Saudi Arabia mean for West Asia?
Pakistan’s move to extend its nuclear program to Saudi Arabia is seen by analysts as a signal to Israel, long believed to be West Asia’s only nuclear-armed nation. It comes after Israel’s attack targeting Hamas leaders in Qatar last week killed six people and sparked new concerns among Gulf Arab nations about their safety amid the Israel-Hamas war that has devastated the Gaza Strip and set the region on edge.
Saudi Arabia has long been linked to Pakistan’s nuclear program. Retired Pakistani Brig. Gen. Feroz Hassan Khan has said Saudi Arabia provided “generous financial support to Pakistan that enabled the nuclear program to continue, especially when the country was under sanctions.”
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 Joe Biden administration.
Pakistan developed its nuclear weapons program to counter India’s atomic bombs. The two neighbours 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.
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