Pakistan is discussing an expanded defence pact with Kuwait in exchange for energy cooperation and investment, five sources familiar with the talks say. The talks are still at an early stage, and one source said rising US-Iran tension could complicate them. After Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis attacked Saudi Arabia last Monday, nuclear-armed Pakistan told Iran it would treat any attack on Saudi Arabia as an attack on itself. Kuwait has been hit by Iranian attacks several times this year. If Pakistan signs a new defence pact with Kuwait, questions could arise over its future role as a mediator between the US and Iran.
A limited defence agreement on military training and joint exercises has existed with Kuwait since 2023, but Kuwait now wants stronger security cooperation, similar to Islamabad’s defence ties with Saudi Arabia. A Pakistani government official said the proposed cooperation could include deploying thousands of Pakistani troops, fighter jets, drones, air-defence systems and other military facilities, though it is unclear whether Pakistan will go that far given its decades-old alliance with Saudi Arabia. A Pakistani security official said Kuwait’s wish list included almost every kind of military cooperation, adding: “Let me be clear — we are not considering, and cannot consider, deploying troops for war at this moment.” Reuters spoke with four Pakistani and one Middle Eastern source, none of whom would be named as they were not authorised to comment; Pakistan’s military media wing and Kuwait’s information ministry did not respond.
Over the past year, Pakistan and Gulf states have grown interested in forming new regional defence alliances, with Pakistan’s large military and its own fighter-jet production making it attractive as an alternative or complement to US security cooperation, as Gulf states no longer see the US as the reliable ally it once was. A Middle Eastern source familiar with Kuwait’s security planning said Kuwait viewed Pakistan as a reliable partner, noting Pakistan’s long defence experience, its close ties with Saudi Arabia and good relations with Sunni Muslim states and the US. Sources say Turkey, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are drafting a new mutual-defence pact separate from Pakistan’s existing bilateral pact with Saudi Arabia, and that Bahrain is also interested, while Jordan has shown interest in an arms-supply and military-training deal. As part of a possible deal with Kuwait, Islamabad wants cooperation on energy security, part of its energy ministry’s wider plan to boost oil and fuel reserves; one source said Kuwait was considering setting up duty-advantaged fuel storage in Pakistan, building on an existing diesel-supply deal. But Muhammad Faisal, a South Asia researcher at the University of Technology Sydney, said Pakistan must decide carefully and be aware of the risk of over-committing.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report