PAKISTAN AND KUWAIT DISCUSS DEFENCE EXPANSION AS IRANIAN ATTACKS RATTLE GULF SECURITY

Fri 17 July 2026:

According to five sources familiar with the discussions, Pakistan has been in talks with Kuwait to broaden their defence agreement in return for cooperation in energy and investment, Reuters reported.

The talks remain at an early stage, all the sources said, and could still be complicated by ‌heightened tensions between the United States and Iran, said one source.

Reuters reported on Thursday that there were mounting concerns in Islamabad that its mutual defence pact with Saudi Arabia, signed last year, could draw Pakistan into the US-Iran war. After the Iran-aligned Houthi movement launched an attack on Saudi Arabia on Monday, nuclear-armed Pakistan told Iran it would treat attacks on the kingdom as attacks on itself.

Any defence deal with Kuwait, which has come under heavy attacks from Iran this year, would also raise questions about Pakistan’s role in future mediation between the U.S. and Iran.

Kuwait has had a more limited defence deal with Pakistan for training and joint exercises since 2023. It is now seeking ⁠a show of force by Islamabad that would be similar to Pakistan’s pact with Saudi Arabia, including “thousands of Pakistani troops on the ground, fighter jets, drones, an air defence system, and other defence-related facilities,” said a Pakistani government official.

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It is unclear whether Pakistan is willing to go this far, given that its agreement with Saudi Arabia was the result of a decades-old close alliance with Riyadh.

Pakistan and Gulf states have over the past year seen advantages to striking new regional defence ‌pacts.

Pakistan maintains ⁠a large military and produces its own fighter jets. This has made it a possible alternative or addition to U.S. protection among Gulf states, as they have grown more wary about the reliability of the U.S. as an ally.

Pakistan has viewed defence deals with neighbouring nations as a way to shore up investments the country urgently needs.

As part of the possible ⁠deal with Kuwait, Islamabad would want cooperation on energy security — part of a wider push by Pakistan’s energy ministry to boost its oil and fuel reserves.

Kuwait is exploring a bonded fuel storage with Pakistan that would build on an existing government-to-government diesel supply deal between the two countries, a Pakistani source aware of the talks said.

Such offers could still be sufficiently ⁠attractive for Pakistan’s leadership to pursue a larger defence deal, said two sources, adding that negotiations were expected to pick up in speed once U.S.-Iran tensions subside.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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