Pakistan Dispatches Fighter Jets, Troops to Saudi Arabia
Pakistani military personnel and aircraft touched down at King Abdulaziz Air Base on Saturday, the Saudi Defense Ministry confirmed in an official statement. The deployment is designed to enhance military coordination, sharpen operational readiness, and "supporting security and stability on the regional and international levels," the ministry said.
The move is anchored in a bilateral defense cooperation agreement signed by the two nations last September — a pact under which any attack on either country is formally treated as an attack on both.
The troop and aircraft deployment followed Iranian strikes that damaged Saudi energy infrastructure and claimed the life of a Saudi national, according to a Reuters report. Pakistan swiftly condemned the missile and drone assault on Saudi Arabia's energy facilities, characterizing the attacks as "a dangerous escalation" that undermines regional peace and stability.
Notably, Iran had welcomed the Saudi-Pakistani defense agreement when it was announced last year — a stance that now stands in sharp contrast to the alliance's first major activation.
The military partnership is unfolding against a backdrop of acute financial pressure on Islamabad. Pakistan is expected to receive approximately $5 billion in financial aid from Riyadh and Doha ahead of looming debt obligations, including a $3.5 billion repayment to the United Arab Emirates due by April 23. Islamabad has separately requested Saudi Arabia expand existing cash deposits and extend an oil financing facility set to expire later this month.
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