Can Kuwait secure a Saudi-style defense pact with Pakistan?
Kuwait and other GCC states are looking to Pakistan, among other countries, for alternate security arrangements and multilayered deterrence.
As Gulf states reassess their security after months of Iranian missile and drone attacks, Kuwait is emerging as the latest country to explore a closer military partnership with Pakistan. Yet translating that interest into a Saudi-style mutual defense pact may prove difficult, given Islamabad's efforts to preserve ties with both Gulf Arab states and Iran.
Kuwait and Pakistan have been negotiating an expanded defense agreement, Reuters reported July 17, citing five sources familiar with the talks. While negotiations remain at an early stage, Kuwait is seeking Pakistani troops, fighter jets, drones and integrated air defense systems under an arrangement modeled on Pakistan's Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement (SMDA) with Saudi Arabia. Pakistani officials, however, have ruled out deploying combat troops for now.
In September 2025, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan formalized their decades-old security ties with the SMDA.
The talks come as Gulf states confront simultaneous threats to maritime shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, alongside missile and drone attacks on energy infrastructure and US military bases. Against that backdrop, analysts say countries such as Kuwait are increasingly seeking additional layers of deterrence beyond their existing security partnerships.
