What happened
Pakistan said on Thursday that Saudi Arabia was entitled to act in self-defence after its air strikes in Iraq, and confirmed that India would be invited to next year’s Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit that Islamabad will host.
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has the right to self-defence under Article 51 of the UN Charter, and we respect that right,” Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi told the weekly media briefing. The remarks came two days after Saudi Arabia and the United States carried out coordinated strikes against installations of Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Units, accusing elements within the umbrella force of launching attacks on Saudi oil facilities.
Andrabi said the developments in the Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea were worrying and condemned attacks, “particularly by non-state actors against Saudi Arabia.” He said Pakistan would implement all its defence cooperation agreements, not just with Saudi Arabia but with all its Gulf partners.
Mediation and the SCO
The spokesperson rejected suggestions that Pakistan’s defence commitments could undermine its credibility as a mediator in the Iran-US conflict, saying the two “operate in their own streams” and that Pakistan’s mediator role was not compromised. He said negotiations were ongoing to normalise the situation in the Strait of Hormuz and that Pakistan was doing its “utmost” to bring both sides back to the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding.
On India, Andrabi said all SCO member states would be invited to the Heads of State Summit at the level of heads of state or government, describing it as an obligation of the host under the bloc’s procedures. Pakistan will assume the rotating chairmanship of the SCO Council of Heads of State after this year’s summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Andrabi also confirmed that Pakistan and India had recently exchanged assignment visas for diplomatic personnel posted to their high commissions, while downplaying any suggestion that the move reflected an improvement in bilateral relations.
Separately, Andrabi rejected a recent Deutsche Welle documentary on Pakistan’s nuclear programme as “misleading,” saying Islamabad had full confidence in the robustness of its nuclear command, control and security systems.
Why it matters
Pakistan’s backing of the Saudi strikes places it alongside its Gulf security partners even as it presents itself as a neutral mediator between Washington and Tehran, a balancing act that shapes both its diplomacy and its energy security as a major fuel importer.
The commitment to invite India to the SCO summit keeps a channel open between the two neighbours, whose diplomatic ties remain downgraded after their 2025 military confrontation, even as Islamabad rules out a broader normalisation.
Related: Pakistan and Saudi Arabia weighed a joint response to Iran strikes under their defence pact.
Sources & reporting notes
This is a summary of published reporting, not independent reporting. Details are as carried by the cited sources, which were reviewed on 31 July 2026.
- Dawn — "Pakistan backs Saudi right to self-defence after Iraq strikes"31 July 2026 · The Article 51 endorsement, the defence commitments with Gulf partners, the US-Iran mediation remarks and the SCO invitation for India.
- Pakistan Today — "Pakistan defends Saudi strikes, says India will get SCO summit invite"31 July 2026 · The SCO heads-of-state invitation, the India assignment visas and the reaffirmed Gulf defence commitments.
