Pakistan and Saudi Arabia: How Special are the “Special Relations”? (Yoel Guzansky, INSS)

Over the course of January 2016, a series of meetings took place between the Saudi and Pakistani political and security leaderships. In these meetings, the Pakistanis stressed their commitment to preserve the security and sovereignty of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia regards Pakistan, which shares a 909-kilometer border with Iran, as an important asset in restraining Iranian influence. Pakistan has the world’s largest Muslim army and is the only Muslim nuclear power, which Riyadh regards as a force multiplier and support in times of crisis. It appears that Saudi Arabia believes that in the event of an Iranian breakout to nuclear weapons, Pakistan will come to its aid in one way or another. However, Pakistan will also have to consider its other interests, and thus Pakistan’s unconditional defense of Saudi interests, as Riyadh understands them, cannot be taken for granted.

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