Realignment in the Middle East: Assessing The Saudi-Pakistan Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement (SMDA) and its Implications for Gulf Order

Abstract

This research paper aims to investigate the geopolitical implications of the Saudi–Pakistan strategic mutual defence Agreement (SMDA) in the security archetype of Middle-East and South Asia. . This development is not created in the vacuum of Middle East; it was designed due to the Israel assertiveness and flagrant attacks on Gulf States and elsewhere in Middle East. The Saudi-Pakistan defence pact is a qualitative study represents a profound reordering of alignments in the geopolitical sphere of Gulf and South Asian regions. The core phrase of this pact echoes collective-defence language reminiscent of NATO’s article 5, vowing that any aggression against either country shall be considered an aggression against both. This research examines a three-folder consequences on three regions simultaneously by discussing the impacts on Middle Eastern sphere: Gulf security and Iran–Israel balance, South Asian sphere: India–Pakistan rivalry and regional order, and Great-power sphere: shifting roles of the US and China. To what extent this defence pact will bring security deterrence in the volatile Middle Eastern and South Asian regional conflicts and how will big power’s influence increase/decrease in the region, this study draws Defensive Realism as a theoretical model to achieve research objects. By drawing geopolitical dynamics, the paper argues that the defence pact contributes to a new evolving forms of regional interdependence and indicates a gradual transformation of security orders across the Gulf and South Asian regions.