Islamabad:
Defense Minister Khawaja Asif has said that Pakistan’s newly signed historical mutual defense agreement with Saudi Arabia is not a reaction to the Israeli attack on Qatar, but the result of many years of discussion and cooperation between the two nations.
In an interview with British-American journalist Mehdi Hasan, Asif said Pakistan’s defense partnership with Saudi Arabia spans five to six decades. “Our forces have been deployed in Saudi Arabia before, maybe over 4,000 to 5,000 at a time, and they are still present on Saudi soil,” he noted.
He explained that the latest agreement was intended to provide a formal structure to the partnership rather than to create a new one. “This agreement has only formalized the defense relationships we have had for a long time. In the past, it was based on some transactions before,” he said.
When he turned to nuclear politics, the defense minister Pakistan’s attitude to restraint confirmed. “After Hiroshima and Nagasaki, there is no nuclear power in favor of using these weapons,” he said, adding that Pakistan remains obliged to global peace norms.
In a commentary on domestic politics, Asif said Pakistan’s democracy has not yet matured, but goes on. “Our democracy is not the best, but we are on this path. I’ve been in prison for six months without charges,” he noted.
