The Protocol Agreement-2026 was signed on Thursday, August 27, during Kuwaiti Defence Minister Sheikh Abdullah Ali Abdullah Al-Saleem Al-Sabah’s visit to Pakistan. Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif signed for Pakistan after talks focused on bilateral security ties and the changing regional environment.
The agreement broadens a defence framework established in 2023 and provides for Pakistan’s armed forces to assist Kuwait in training, capacity building, border management and other mutually agreed areas. It is also intended to increase exchanges of military expertise, operational readiness and institutional co-ordination between the two armed forces.
Sheikh Abdullah was accompanied by Lieutenant General Khalid Darj Saad Al-Shriaan, Chief of General Staff of the Kuwaiti Armed Forces. The delegation also held talks with Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Defence Forces, at General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, where regional security and longer-term military collaboration were discussed.
The timing gives the pact wider significance. Six months of conflict involving Iran, the United States and Israel have exposed vulnerabilities across Gulf security systems, disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and placed additional pressure on states that have traditionally depended heavily on Western military guarantees.
Kuwait lies particularly close to the conflict zone and hosts major US military facilities. Missile and drone threats, shipping disruptions and concerns about attacks on critical infrastructure have encouraged Gulf governments to examine supplementary defence arrangements while retaining their established Western partnerships.
Pakistan offers a different set of capabilities. Its large armed forces have decades of experience in military training, border security and counter-terrorism operations, while its longstanding relationships with Gulf monarchies give Islamabad a growing role in regional security diplomacy.
The Kuwait agreement follows a broader expansion of Pakistan’s defence engagement with Gulf and Middle Eastern states. Earlier this month, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye signed the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, committing the three countries to deeper security co-operation amid the deterioration in the regional strategic environment.
Pakistan has simultaneously maintained diplomatic channels with Iran and participated in efforts to reduce tensions surrounding the Strait of Hormuz. Pakistani officials have held negotiations in Tehran aimed at preventing further escalation and reopening the waterway, which normally carries about one-fifth of global oil supplies.
That combination of military partnerships and diplomatic engagement has strengthened Islamabad’s position as a significant security actor beyond South Asia. Pakistan remains close to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states while maintaining working relations with Tehran, giving it access to parties occupying opposing positions in the regional confrontation.
Kuwait and Pakistan already had a structured defence relationship before Thursday’s agreement. Their Defence Cooperation Agreement was signed in June 2023 and was ratified by Kuwait in July this year. It established mechanisms covering military education, exercises, exchange programmes and other forms of collaboration.
Defence ties between the countries stretch back several decades. Pakistani personnel have served in training and advisory roles in Gulf states, while Pakistan contributed to operations connected with Kuwait’s liberation following Iraq’s 1990 invasion. Pakistani military engineers later participated in mine-clearing operations, including work on Bubiyan Island.
The new protocol appears designed to move the relationship from a broad institutional framework towards more practical assistance. Border management is particularly notable because Kuwait faces security concerns linked to smuggling, organised crime, militant networks and instability across the wider region.
Training and capacity building could also give Kuwait greater flexibility as it strengthens domestic military capabilities without becoming dependent on a single external partner. Kuwait continues to maintain extensive defence relationships with the United States, Britain and France, and the agreement with Pakistan is better viewed as diversification than a replacement for those arrangements.
The Gulf security landscape has shifted sharply since the Iran conflict began. Iranian capabilities around the Strait of Hormuz have disrupted maritime traffic and raised doubts over the assumption that advanced air defences and large foreign bases alone can provide protection against missiles, drones and asymmetric attacks.
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other Gulf states are therefore placing greater emphasis on regional partnerships, distributed defence systems and co-operation with countries able to provide trained manpower and operational expertise.
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