By Apoorva Shukla

Copyright timesnownews

The entry of other Arab countries in the mutual defence deal between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia is not ruled out, Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said, adding that “doors are not closed” for such developments. Responding to a question whether more Arab nations could become part of the defence part, Asif said: “I cannot prematurely answer this, but I will definitely say the doors are not closed.” Asif said that he had been calling for a “NATO-like arrangement”. There’s no clause in the deal that ruled out the entry of any other nation or that Pakistan could not sign a similar agreement with anyone else, he said. He added that Pakistan had also been involved in training Saudi forces for quite a while and the recent development was only a formalised “extension” of all that. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia on Wednesday signed a “strategic mutual defence” agreement, which declares that any attack on either country will be considered “an aggression against both”. The deal was signed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during the Pakistani leader’s day-long visit to the Gulf Kingdom, according to a joint statement. India on Friday said it expects Saudi Arabia to keep in mind “mutual interests and sensitivities” in the wake of the pact. “India and Saudi Arabia have a wide-ranging strategic partnership that has deepened considerably in the last few years,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. “We expect that our strategic partnership will keep in mind mutual interests and sensitivities,” he said.