When Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistan's prime minister, clasped Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh last week, the symbolism was unmistakable. The embrace followed the signing of a 'strategic mutual defense agreement', bringing the Islamic world's only nuclear-armed state closer to the Gulf's most ambitious monarchy. A senior Saudi official told Reuters that the pact was merely an 'institutionalization of long-standing and deep cooperation'. But many in India see it differently.
Despite Delhi's cultivated warmth with Riyadh, the pact lands amid heightened hostility with Pakistan, including a four-day conflict earlier this year. Nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan have fought multiple wars and clashes over Kashmir, making any move by Saudi to underwrite Pakistan's military a direct concern.
What unsettles Indian analysts the most is the pact's commitment that 'any aggression against either country shall be considered an aggression against both'. 'Riyadh knew India would construe the Saudi-Pakistan pact as a direct threat to its security, yet it went ahead,' Brahma Chellaney, an Indian strategist, posted on X. 'The move reflects not Pakistan's strength - it remains on the brink of bankruptcy - but Saudi Arabia's ambitions', he says.
Former Indian foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal called the pact a 'grave misstep' by Saudi Arabia, warning that this could have serious implications for India's national security. 'A politically unstable and economically broken Pakistan as a security provider is a dangerous proposition.'
India's Narendra Modi-led government has been more circumspect, noting it will 'study the pact's implications for national security and regional stability'. Not all analysts are alarmed, suggesting that Delhi may be overstating the risks since Riyadh values balanced ties, being India's second-largest trading partner.
The pact, while signing off a long-standing understanding between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan that dates back to the 1960s, marks a shift in regional alignments. Concerns persist that this could harden into an 'Islamic NATO', complicating India's strategies across trade, investment, and strategic corridors in the Gulf. Experts assert that even if the pact poses no immediate threat, its diplomatic optics could have long-lasting effects on India's international standing.
Despite Delhi's cultivated warmth with Riyadh, the pact lands amid heightened hostility with Pakistan, including a four-day conflict earlier this year. Nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan have fought multiple wars and clashes over Kashmir, making any move by Saudi to underwrite Pakistan's military a direct concern.
What unsettles Indian analysts the most is the pact's commitment that 'any aggression against either country shall be considered an aggression against both'. 'Riyadh knew India would construe the Saudi-Pakistan pact as a direct threat to its security, yet it went ahead,' Brahma Chellaney, an Indian strategist, posted on X. 'The move reflects not Pakistan's strength - it remains on the brink of bankruptcy - but Saudi Arabia's ambitions', he says.
Former Indian foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal called the pact a 'grave misstep' by Saudi Arabia, warning that this could have serious implications for India's national security. 'A politically unstable and economically broken Pakistan as a security provider is a dangerous proposition.'
India's Narendra Modi-led government has been more circumspect, noting it will 'study the pact's implications for national security and regional stability'. Not all analysts are alarmed, suggesting that Delhi may be overstating the risks since Riyadh values balanced ties, being India's second-largest trading partner.
The pact, while signing off a long-standing understanding between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan that dates back to the 1960s, marks a shift in regional alignments. Concerns persist that this could harden into an 'Islamic NATO', complicating India's strategies across trade, investment, and strategic corridors in the Gulf. Experts assert that even if the pact poses no immediate threat, its diplomatic optics could have long-lasting effects on India's international standing.
