Diplomatic passport-holders: Pakistan, Saudi Arabia ink visa waiver pact

NEW YORK: The governments of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia on Tuesday signed an agreement to abolish visa requirements for holders of diplomatic and official/special passports.

The agreement means that those who possess diplomatic passports and official/special ones from both countries will no longer need a visa to enter each other’s country.

This agreement was signed by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Ishaq Dar and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan at the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.

“I signed today with my brother, His Highness Prince Faisal bin Farhan, the ‘Agreement between Islamic Republic of Pakistan and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on the abolition of visa requirements for holders of Diplomatic and Official/Special Passports’,” Ishaq Dar wrote on social media platform X.

“This important step will further facilitate high-level engagement and institutional exchanges, and contribute to advancing our enduring and brotherly strategic partnership across all areas of mutual interest,” he added.

The development reflects the further strengthening of ties between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Over the past few years, the two sides have signed several agreements to foster growing cooperation in the economic, agriculture, food security and defence sectors.

As regional tensions surge, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed a mutual defence pact in September 2025. In August this year, Islamabad and Riyadh signed a trilateral defence pact that also involves Ankara.

The trilateral defence pact stipulates that an attack on any one country will be considered an attack against all three.