The Hindu editorial on 20/09/2025 argues that India’s West Asia policy must maintain a strategic balance as the defence pact between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, declaring mutual protection against aggression, marks a significant shift in West and South Asia’s strategic landscape. Saudi and Pakistan has special relationship, rooted in their military and financial support. Pakistan has trained Saudi forces for decades, while Saudi has provided generous financial assistance including help for Islamabad’s nuclear programme. With the agreement, this partnership has now been institutionalised. The timing of the formal agreement, announced a week after the Israel attack on Qatar underlines the changing geopolitical landscape in the Persian Gulf. With the US focus shifting away from West Asia, the Gulf monarchies relied on solid security guarantees for decades are diversifying alliances as clearly signaled by Saudi Arabia with this agreement.
For Pakistan, which desperately needs Saudi financial assistance, it is an opportunity to present itself as a security provider. For India, this deal complicates its West Asia strategy. Uncertainties remain over whether the pact extends Pakistan’s nuclear umbrella to Riyadh or entails direct Saudi involvement in South Asian conflicts. Hence, the editorial warns that India must avoid overcommitting to Israel and instead maintain strategic balance and prioritise regional stability to navigate these shifting sands.
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