A Saudi Arabia business delegation is visiting Pakistan this week in a sign that a recently inked mutual defense pact could lead to much deeper trade and commercial links. Pakistan is hoping that the visit will lead to about $1 billion of much-needed investment into its economy, although that may be dependent on the country enacting changes to rules including around the repatriation of profits.
The Saudi-Pakistan defense agreement — announced soon after Israel’s strike on Doha raised questions in the Gulf over the strength of US security guarantees — was a significant upgrade in long-standing ties between the two countries.
There was some ambiguity, however, about whether Pakistan was including use of its nuclear weapons in a response to an attack on Riyadh.