India said on Friday, September 19, two days after Pakistan and Riyadh signed a mutual defense agreement, that it hopes Saudi Arabia will keep in mind the mutual interests and sensitivities of the two countries, Reuters reported.
Saudi Arabia and nuclear-armed Pakistan signed the “Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement” on Wednesday, September 17, and although few details have been released, analysts say it could mean Riyadh has a de facto nuclear defense cover under the deal.
The agreement comes at a time of heightened diplomatic tension in the Middle East, with deadly clashes between India and Pakistan in May. An attack on either country will be considered an attack on both, according to the agreement between the two countries.
“India and Saudi Arabia have a wide-ranging strategic partnership, which has deepened considerably in the last few years,” Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said, according to Reuters.
“We expect that this strategic partnership will keep in mind mutual interests and sensitivities,” Jaiswal said.
When Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on April 22 to attend the second meeting of the Strategic Partnership Council (SPC), he described the Saudi-India relationship as a “trusted friend and strategic ally.” India is also one of the top customers of crude oil from Saudi Arabia, highlighting the relationship between the two countries.
One of the economically struggling countries in Asia, Pakistan ranks among the top countries in the Middle East and the Muslim world in terms of military strength, but Pakistan’s larger adversary is India, against which it has an army of over 640,000 soldiers to defend itself.
India and Pakistan, two nuclear-armed neighbors, have fought three major wars, with numerous clashes, including a four-day conflict in May following a terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Indian Kashmir, which was their heaviest fighting in decades.
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