Pakistan sent eight thousand troops to Saudi Arabia

While the geopolitical situation in the Greater Middle East has become increasingly unstable and unpredictable, military cooperation between two major Muslim states has been elevated to a qualitatively new level, Zemlya.uz reports.

According to leading global intelligence agencies citing reliable sources in government and security circles, Saudi Arabia has dispatched a brigade of eight thousand troops, along with a squadron of modern fighter aircraft, to Pakistan.

This move, taken amid escalating armed confrontations between the United States and Israel on one side and Iran on the other, aims to sharply strengthen Riyadh’s defense capabilities and the security of its air borders.

According to reports, in April of this year, Islamabad delivered to Riyadh sixteen modern fighter aircraft and a squadron of long-range unmanned aerial vehicles produced in cooperation with China. In addition, air defense systems were sent to bolster Saudi defenses.

This sophisticated military equipment and hardware is being operated by highly skilled Pakistani specialists who have undergone special training. All financial costs of the operation are to be fully covered by Saudi Arabia.

Such extensive military assistance did not arise spontaneously. The two countries have a strategic defense agreement in place, under which an attack on either party is considered an attack on both.

Pakistan is regarded as the only nuclear-armed state in the Islamic world. According to international political analysts, this alliance effectively places Saudi Arabia under Pakistan’s nuclear umbrella in practice.

The fact that Saudi Arabia, one of Washington’s closest allies in the Greater Middle East, has entered into such a firm agreement with Pakistan indicates a significant decline in Riyadh’s confidence in Western security guarantees.

The first serious test of this pact came at the end of February this year.

Following large-scale military strikes in the region, amid growing threats to major military and industrial facilities in Saudi Arabia, the military pact between Islamabad and Riyadh underwent a real trial. The swift military assistance provided by Pakistan has become a potentially decisive factor in altering the balance of forces in the region.