Pakistan’s Cautious Response Tests Limits of Saudi Defence Pact

Pakistan’s restrained response to the escalating tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia has highlighted the practical limits of the two countries’ recently signed defence agreement, even as Pakistan continues to publicly affirm its solidarity with Riyadh.

The situation intensified in March 2026 following Iranian strikes targeting Saudi assets, drawing renewed attention to the Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement (SMDA) signed by Pakistan and Saudi Arabia in September 2025. A key provision of the pact states that an attack on one signatory would be treated as an attack on both, raising expectations in Riyadh that Islamabad might assume a more active military role should hostilities escalate.

So far, however, Pakistan has refrained from deploying troops or offering direct combat assistance. While the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has repeatedly expressed “unquestioned solidarity” with the kingdom, Islamabad’s response has remained cautious and largely diplomatic.

High-level engagements between the two countries have continued. On March 6–7, Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir held meetings in Riyadh with Saudi Defence Minister Khalid bin Salman to discuss coordination and potential measures to address the Iranian strikes. Despite these consultations, Pakistan has avoided invoking the full military provisions of the defence pact.

Instead, Islamabad has intensified military activity along its western frontier. The Pakistan Army has expanded operations against militant groups under Operation Ghazab Lil Haq, targeting the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan and Taliban-linked elements operating in neighbouring Afghanistan. The timing of these operations, coinciding with heightened tensions in the Middle East, has provided Pakistan with an operational justification for its limited involvement in the Saudi–Iran crisis.

Analysts suggest that this approach reflects Pakistan’s long-standing strategy of calibrated restraint in complex regional conflicts. Direct military engagement against Iran would carry significant risks, including potential retaliation from a neighbouring state that shares a sensitive border with Pakistan. Such involvement could also exacerbate domestic sectarian tensions in a country with a sizeable Shia population.

For Saudi Arabia, Pakistan’s cautious stance has reportedly been a source of frustration. Riyadh had anticipated stronger military backing under the 2025 defence pact, particularly as Iranian attacks intensified.

Security experts note that the current episode illustrates how the SMDA functions more as a diplomatic and symbolic framework than as a mechanism for automatic military intervention.

More broadly, the situation underscores Pakistan’s foreign policy approach of strategic balancing and multi-alignment. Over the years, Islamabad has entered security partnerships to secure economic assistance and oil credits from Gulf states, military technology from China, and previously security cooperation from the United States, while preserving flexibility in moments of geopolitical crisis.

As tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia continue to simmer, Pakistan appears determined to maintain a delicate balance—honouring its commitments to Riyadh while safeguarding its own security interests, and once again navigating the narrow space between alliance obligations and strategic restraint.