Pakistan deployed 8,000 troops, Chinese air defence system and warplanes to Saudi Arabia: Report

Pakistan deployed 8,000 troops, Chinese air defence system and warplanes to Saudi Arabia: Report Submitted by MEE staff on Mon, 05/18/2026 - 21:40 The US-Israeli war on Iran has put a spotlight on Saudi Arabia’s defence pact with Pakistan Pakistani fighter jets fly during a multinational naval exercise in the Arabian Sea near Pakistan's port city of Karachi, on 10 February 2025 (Asif Hassan/AFP) Off Pakistan has deployed 8,000 troops, a fighter jet squadron and a Chinese air defence system to Saudi Arabia as part of its mutual defence pact with the kingdom, Reuters reported on Monday. The deployments, which enhance the number of Pakistani troops and military assets in the kingdom, began in early April, Reuters reported. Pakistan has deployed a squadron of around 16 aircraft, mostly JF-17 warplanes, which it produces jointly with China. In addition, it has deployed an HQ-9 Chinese air defence system. The presence of sophisticated Chinese weaponry in Saudi Arabia overlaps with high-tech US-made systems operating in the country. Saudi Arabia has Patriot and Thaad air defence systems. In fact, the kingdom has the largest stockpile of Patriot interceptors in the Gulf. The US-Israeli war on Iran has put a spotlight on Saudi Arabia’s defence pact with Pakistan, which was signed in September 2025, following Israel’s attack on Hamas negotiators in Doha, Qatar. Iran responded to the US-Israeli attack by launching thousands of drones and missiles against the Gulf states. During the early weeks of the war, some Saudi commentators raised the defence pact with Pakistan, saying it placed them under the latter’s nuclear umbrella. A US official told Middle East Eye that Islamabad had bec...

Original source: Middle East Eye