‘Harmain-ul-Sharifain’s protection core of our belief’: PTI, JUI-F welcome Pak-Saudi Defence Agreement

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) on Friday welcomed the Pakistan-Saudi Arabia Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement (SMDA) signed between the two brotherly countries a day ago.

Saudi Arabia and nuclear-armed Pakistan signed a mutual defence pact late on Wednesday, significantly strengthening a decades-old security partnership a week after Israel’s strikes on Qatar upended the diplomatic calculus in the region.

The enhanced defence ties come as Gulf Arab states grow increasingly wary about the reliability of the United States as a security guarantor.

Pakistan is the only nuclear-armed, Muslim-majority nation, and also fields the Islamic world’s largest army.

Pakistan, KSA sign Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement

The PTI spokesperson Sheikh Waqas Akram shared a statement on his social media account, retweeted by PTI’s official X account, regarding his party’s support for the defence pact. “We recognise this development as reaffirmation of the historic depth of Pakistan-Saudi Arabia relations, rooted in Islamic brotherhood, shared strategic interests, and long-standing mutual support,” read the statement.

Strengthening defence and security cooperation between the two brotherly nations carried the potential to contribute positively to bilateral and regional security and stability, it said.

The PTI said its founding chairman Imran Khan had always envisioned Pakistan as a country that united the Muslim world, built cooperation among nations and advanced the prospects of peace.

“Pakistan, therefore, sees enhanced partnership with Saudi Arabia as a critical step towards greater Muslim unity and collective security as for every Pakistani, the sanctity and protection of Harmain-ul-Sharifain is the core component of our belief,” the embattled political party said.

The party, however, requested the authorities to share details of the defence agreement with the nation.

The PTI, it said, looked forward to further details of the SMDA to be shared with people of Pakistan, keeping its citizens duly informed.

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PTI reaffirmed its commitment to Pakistan’s strategic partnership with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, saying it deeply valued the kingdom’s consistent support for the people of Pakistan.

“We believe that enhanced cooperation between the two brotherly countries will foster peace, stability, and prosperity not only for our two brotherly nations, but also for the wider region and the world,” the statement concluded.

Meanwhile, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman saw the Pakistan-Saudi defence agreement as the first step towards forming an Islamic bloc. He said the JUI-F always believed that Saudi Arabia and Pakistan had the ability to lead the Muslim Ummah.

Addressing a large public gathering at the conclusion of the Sindh Peace March near the Sindh Assembly on Thursday, he said: “We have told the world that we want peace. We stood shoulder to shoulder with our Muslim brothers against zionism.”

Fazl said diplomatically, since its creation in 1947, Pakistan had declared Israel an illegitimate occupying force. He also expressed his support for the Sumud Flotilla which is heading towards Gaza to break the siege through peaceful means and provide medicines and food. “I strongly support the Sumud Flotilla, which represents the entire Ummah.”