Pakistan, Saudi Arabia Sign Visa Waiver for Diplomatic Passports, Reaffirm Strategic Ties

Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, met Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud on the sidelines of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York on Tuesday.

The two foreign ministers reaffirmed the deeply rooted, fraternal relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia and welcomed the formal signing of an agreement abolishing visa requirements for holders of diplomatic and official/special passports.

Facilitating High-Level Engagement

The mutual visa exemption agreement, signed by Dar and Prince Faisal, aims to streamline high-level diplomatic visits, enhance institutional exchanges, and advance the longstanding strategic partnership between the two nations across various sectors of mutual interest.

"I signed today with my brother, His Highness Prince Faisal bin Farhan, the 'Agreement between the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on the abolition of visa requirements for holders of Diplomatic and Official/Special Passports,'" Deputy PM Dar announced in an official post on the social media platform X.

Dar characterized the agreement as a vital milestone that will significantly ease official travel and deepen bilateral engagement.

Strategic Defense and Regional Security Updates

During the high-level meeting, both sides held extensive discussions on evolving regional developments, international security, and bilateral defense cooperation. Dar expressed Pakistan’s steadfast solidarity with Saudi Arabia and strongly condemned recent drone and missile attacks targeting the Kingdom.

The foreign ministers specifically reviewed matters pertaining to the Makkah Defence Agreement. They reaffirmed their shared commitment to strengthening cooperation under the framework to actively promote regional peace, security, and stability.

The meeting occurs amid a rapidly shifting regional security architecture. As Middle Eastern tensions surged, Islamabad and Riyadh initially formalized their defense ties with a bilateral collective-defense pact in September 2025. This foundational commitment was significantly expanded in August 2026, when Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Türkiye signed the trilateral Makkah Defence Agreement. The landmark trilateral alliance establishes a collective security framework stipulating that an unprovoked attack against any one of the three signatory nations will be treated as an attack against all.

Expanding Institutional Ties

The ministers underscored the critical need for sustained, high-level diplomatic exchanges and close coordination on both bilateral and regional matters of mutual interest.

Over the past few years, Islamabad and Riyadh have systematically scaled up their bilateral framework. The two countries have successfully executed multiple cooperative pacts designed to boost investment and joint infrastructure across the economic, agricultural, food security, and defense manufacturing sectors.