Pakistan and Saudi Arabia’s strategic stability in 2026

The strategic temperature across West Asia and its extended neighborhood remains high with several pivotal states recalibrating their long-term security and economic partnerships in anticipation of a more contested regional order. Among the most consequential of these is the deepening convergence between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

The relationship itself is not new. For decades, Pakistan’s military institutions played a central role in training Saudi officers, advising on force development and contributing to internal and external security planning. Pakistani troops were stationed in the Kingdom at different points, and defense cooperation remained a constant even when political relations elsewhere in the region fluctuated. What has changed since 2024–25 is not the existence of this bond, but its strategic closeness and the two entering a strategic mutual defense agreement. Also the scale and frequency of high-level defense dialogue, joint exercises, intelligence coordination and political consultation increased markedly during 2025, pointing toward a more structured security partnership in the making.

One, current efforts at economic transformation by the two as strategic glue is a major driver of this new phase. Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 has placed digital infrastructure, fin-tech and non-oil growth at the center of national strategy. Riyadh has invested heavily in cloud computing, digital identity systems, artificial intelligence and financial technology, while its central bank has participated in cross-border digital currency experiments such as Project Aber with the UAE. Pakistan, though operating at a different scale, is moving in a similar direction. The State Bank of Pakistan has announced regulatory preparations for digital asset frameworks and pilot projects for central bank digital currency, while Pakistan’s IT exports crossed roughly USD 2.6 billion in FY2023, reflecting the rapid expansion of its software and services sector.

Beyond economics, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia increasingly articulate similar regional principles. 

- Nasim Zehra

By 2026, both governments are expected to explore practical mechanisms for digital trade facilitation, including faster settlement systems for bilateral commerce, technology collaboration between financial regulators, and partnerships linking Pakistani software firms with Saudi digital-services platforms.

Second, and an equally important convergence lies in mining and rare-earth development. Pakistan entered the global mining spotlight with the Pakistan Minerals Investment Forum in 2023, highlighting copper and gold reserves at Reko Diq and Saindak, along with emerging surveys of lithium and rare-earth deposits in parts of Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan. Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, has positioned itself as a global convenor of mining policy through its annual Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh, which now attracts delegations from more than 150 countries. Saudi estimates place its untapped mineral wealth at over USD 1.3 trillion, spanning phosphates, bauxite, copper, zinc and rare-earth elements essential for electric vehicles and advanced defense technologies.

Three, another commonality is that both states face the same strategic reality: China dominates rare-earth processing and refining, while the United States and its partners are urgently seeking alternative supply chains. Islamabad and Riyadh have therefore adopted parallel approaches— working with Chinese firms where technology and speed matter, while simultaneously seeking Western investment for diversification and market access. This dual engagement has been publicly acknowledged by Saudi ministers and Pakistani officials alike. Mineral diplomacy is perhaps becoming for both countries what energy diplomacy was in the 20th century: a foundation of long-term geopolitical leverage.

The fourth convergence is that stability has surfaced as a shared political doctrine. Beyond economics, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia increasingly articulate similar regional principles. Both emphasize the preservation of existing states, oppose territorial fragmentation, and reject the instrumentalization of armed non-state actors. 

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said at the Future Minerals Forum that regional stability— not external engineering of political systems— must be the priority, when asked about Iran’s internal politics. On Palestine, too, convergence is evident. Both Islamabad and Riyadh support eventual regional normalization in principle, but only if prefaced by the creation of a functioning and viable Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The fifth commonality is that both seek strategic autonomy even with deep ties with allies. Perhaps the most distinctive feature of this convergence is its shared refusal to be absorbed into rigid country-partisan engagement politics. Saudi Arabia maintains deep security ties with Washington while expanding energy, technology and infrastructure cooperation with China. Pakistan follows a similar logic, looking for enhanced economic ties with the US even as China remains its iron-bother with exemplary multi-faceted exemplary relationship architecture.

Interestingly when asked by international media whether Riyadh would “choose” between Beijing and Washington in rare-earth development, Saudi officials replied that cooperation with one does not come at the expense of the other; very similar to Pakistan’s long-standing position. Pakistan and KSA remain engaged on treading wise common grounds.

Sixth and most importantly, both are moving together toward a wider security network. Defense cooperation is also taking on a broader calculus. Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye already coordinate on training, counter-terrorism intelligence, defense production components and emerging aerospace technologies. Although some commentators describe this as a prospective “Muslim NATO,” the three governments have not projected it as such. Instead they see it as a stabilizing security network stretching from North Africa to South Asia, designed to respond to externally inspired insurrections, terrorism, fragmentation and destabilization.

As the Middle East and South Asia confront overlapping crises— from Gaza and the Red Sea to Yemen, Afghanistan and the India-Pakistan frontier— this network is increasingly viewed by regional policymakers as a necessity.

By 2026, therefore, Pakistan–Saudi relations are evolving into a layered strategic partnership encompassing digital infrastructure, resource security, regional stabilization, great-power balancing and institutionalized defense cooperation. The potential is undeniable. In an era of fractured alliances and volatile power shifts, the convergence between Islamabad and Riyadh represents an effort to construct strategic continuity and stability in a region defined by disruption from global sources.

- Nasim Zehra is an author, analyst and national security expert. 

Twitter: @NasimZehra