In a further cementing of the Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement (SMDA) pact between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, the Pakistan Army’s 25th Mechanised Division, also known as the Karachi-based ‘Charging Bull Division’, has reportedly landed very recently on the Saudi Arabia-Yemen border.
Sources have told THE WEEK that the two-brigade strong force and its support elements will translate into about 10,000 desert troops that are equipped with Ukraine-made T-80 UD tanks and ‘Talha’ armoured personnel carriers (APC), besides elements of self-propelled artillery of up to two regiments with the American-made M109A2 howitzers (155 mm tracked self-propelled guns).
The deployment in the border area is indicative of the fact that the move is primed to deal with the Iran-backed Houthis based in Yemen.
The 25th Mechanised Division specialises in mechanised operations in the desert terrain across India.
This is the second deployment to Saudi Arabia after a fleet of Pakistani fighter aircraft, including JF-17 ‘Thunder’ and support aircraft, had been stationed at Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulaziz Air Base in March, but was made public by the Saudi authorities only on April 11. While details are not available, reports put the number of fighter aircraft at about 18, besides the support military aircraft.
The deployment of the 25th Mechanised Division, even as Islamabad hosted talks between the US and Iran, is interesting.
In the recent conflict, Iran has attacked military targets and energy targets several times in Saudi Arabia after the US-Iran conflict began on February 28. On April 13, Iranian missiles struck Saudi Arabia’s Jubail petrochemicals complex, which led to concerns of a Saudi retaliation which would have outspread the war.
The SMDA signed between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia in September 2025 mandates that an attack on one country would be considered an attack on the other as well.
While Pakistan’s fighter deployment is more of a signalling as the Royal Saudi Air Force is very well-equipped with more than 360 advanced fighters, including F-15 and Eurofighter ‘Typhoons’, the desert specialist troops are an important force multiplier.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have a military relationship that goes back several decades.
The only nuclear-armed power in the Islamic world had trained the Saudi forces, while the Saudis had bailed out cash-strapped Pakistan several times in the past.
The two countries are also in negotiations for a JF-17 fighter aircraft deal worth $4 billion, where a certain portion of the Pakistani debt to the Saudis would be converted into JF-17 sales.
The JF-17, a single-engine, multi-role light combat aircraft, is jointly developed by the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex at Kamra in collaboration with China’s Chengdu Aircraft Corporation.
