'PAK NUCLEAR SHIELD AVAILABLE TO SAUDI'

Pakistan's Defence Minister clarifies the nature of defence pact with Riyadh, says doors open to other Arab nations should they want to enter into similar agreements

- Agencies

Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif has said the country’s nuclear programme “will be made available” to Saudi Arabia if needed under the countries’ new defence pact, marking the first specific acknowledgment that Islamabad had put the kingdom under its nuclear umbrella.

Defence Minister Asif’s comments late Thursday night highlighted the significance of the agreement signed this week between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, who have shared decades-long military ties.

Speaking to Geo TV, Asif was asked whether “the deterrence that Pakistan gets from nuclear weapons” would also apply 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,” he said.

“What we have, and the capabilities we possess, will absolutely be made available to (Saudi Arabia) according to this agreement,” he added.

The two nations signed a defence pact on Wednesday declaring that an attack on one country would be treated as an attack on both.