New Delhi: India hopes that its strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia “will be pursued keeping in mind mutual interests and sensitivities”, said the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday (September 19) of Riyadh’s new defence pact with Pakistan.Signed during Pakistan Army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s visit to Saudi Arabia earlier this week, the ‘Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement’ between the two sides stipulates that ‘any aggression against either country shall be considered an aggression against both’.Since then, Pakistan’s defence minister has said that the country’s nuclear capabilities will be available to Saudi Arabia under the pact, with Islamabad also saying that the “defensive” agreement is “not directed against any third country”.Asked how India views the relationship between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia in light of the agreement signed Wednesday, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal referred to India’s “considerably strengthened” strategic partnership with Riyadh.“As you know, we have a strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia. It is multi-dimensional, and in recent times it has strengthened considerably. Our expectation is that our strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia will be pursued keeping in mind mutual interests and sensitivities, within the framework of this partnership,” he said during the weekly press briefing.Jaiswal also referred to his previous statement issued after the Saudi-Pakistan deal was signed, in which he had said that India would “study the implications of this development for our national security as well as for regional and global stability”.New Delhi “was aware that this development, which formalises a long-standing arrangement between the two countries, had been under consideration”, his statement on Thursday had said, adding that the government was committed to protecting India’s national interests and “ensuring comprehensive national security in all domains”.A day after the deal – which was finalised against the backdrop of Israel’s belligerence in West Asia – was struck, Pakistani defence minister Khawaja Asif when asked if Islamabad’s nuclear deterrent would become available to Riyadh said that all of Pakistan’s capabilities would be put on the table.“Two things about Pakistan are beyond any doubt and have been proven. One is our nuclear power. It has been a quarter-century since this has been proven,” Asif told Geo News.After Pakistan conducted nuclear tests it has “armed forces which are now battle-harened” and which were “tested three or four months ago”, Asif said, referring to the four-day-long military conflict with India that took place in May.“What is there with us, what capabilities we have, they are definitely available under this pact,” the minister said.Will other Arab countries be able to join the agreement? “I cannot give a premature answer in this matter at this time, but I will definitely say that the doors haven’t been closed,” Asif said.Pakistan’s foreign ministry also said on Friday that the agreement is ‘defensive’ in nature.“Since the 1960s, defense cooperation has served as one of the principle pillars of Pakistan [and] Saudi Arabia’s all-encompassing bilateral relations. The strategic mutual defense agreement formalises this decades old and robust defense partnership,” Islamabad said.“It is defensive in nature and not directed against any third country.”