DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Pakistan’s defense minister has said that his nation’s nuclear program “will be made available” to Saudi Arabia if needed under the countries’ new defense pact.
Defense Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif’s comments to Geo TV late Thursday night were the first specific acknowledgment that Pakistan was placing Saudi Arabia under the umbrella of its nuclear arms.
“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.
Neither country has responded to questions about the pact and what it meant in regards to possibly accessing Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal.
The move is seen by some as a signal to Israel, long believed to be the Middle East’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.
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 U.S. 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.
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 U.S.-published Bulletin of Atomic Scientists.
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Ahmed reported from Islamabad. ___
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