Islamabad, March 7 Amid escalating tensions in West Asia, Pakistan's Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir traveled to Saudi Arabia and met Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman to discuss the security situation.
Saudi Arabia has come under attack from Iran, putting the mutual defense pact signed between Islamabad and Riyadh last year in jeopardy. The countries are bound by the agreement to defend each other in case of attack by a third country.
The defense pact faced its first test after the Afghan Taliban attacked Pakistan on February 26, and Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said it was "an open war" between the two countries, while Iran reportedly launched drones and missiles against the kingdom following the joint strikes by the US and Israel.
Questions were being raised about whether Pakistan would stand up to defend Saudi Arabia if a formal war began with Iran.
Prince Khalid bin Salman stated on X early Saturday that his meeting with CDF Munir focused on ways to stop the attacks, which he said "do not serve the security and stability of the region".
He added that there is hope that the Iranian side will prioritize wisdom and reason and refrain from "wrong calculations".
"We discussed the Iranian attacks on the kingdom within the framework of the joint strategic defense agreement between our two brotherly countries, and ways to stop these attacks, which do not serve the security and stability of the region, hoping that the Iranian side will prioritize wisdom and reason and refrain from wrong calculations," he said.
Pakistan has not yet commented on the visit of CDF Munir to Saudi Arabia.
The two sides have been in contact since the start of the war against Iran, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif contacted Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman while Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar had talked to his Saudi counterparts more than once.
Dar told the media during the week that he also contacted the Iranian foreign minister and urged him not to target Saudi Arabia.
