UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Pakistan sends fighter jets under defence pact, says Saudi Arabia

Q1. The core clause of the Saudi Arabia–Pakistan Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement (2025) establishes which one of the following principles?

  • A. An act of aggression against either state shall be treated as an act of aggression against both
  • B. Neither state shall interfere in the internal political affairs of the other
  • C. Both states pledge a mutual no-first-use of nuclear weapons
  • D. Either state may exercise a veto over the other's foreign military deployments

Q2. The Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement of September 2025 is best characterised as which one of the following?

  • A. The first treaty-level mutual defence commitment formalising a NATO Article-5-style collective security clause between the two states
  • B. A verbatim renewal of the 1951 Treaty of Friendship with unchanged terms
  • C. A Gulf Cooperation Council-brokered multilateral security framework
  • D. A United Nations-registered non-aggression pact

Q3. The April 2026 arrival of Pakistani fighter jets and troops in Saudi Arabia under the mutual defence pact was officially confirmed by which one of the following?

  • A. Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Defence
  • B. Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs
  • C. The Gulf Cooperation Council Secretariat
  • D. Pakistan's Ministry of Interior

Q4. Approximately how many Pakistani troops were reported to have been deployed to Saudi Arabia in the April 2026 activation of the defence pact?

  • A. About 3,000
  • B. About 8,000
  • C. About 13,000
  • D. About 25,000

Q5. The September 2025 airstrike on Doha that unsettled Gulf security perceptions was carried out exclusively by which one of the following?

  • A. The Israel Defense Forces
  • B. The United States Central Command
  • C. A joint NATO task force
  • D. The Saudi-led coalition

Q6. In the September 2025 Doha airstrike, the intended targets reportedly included exactly how many senior Hamas figures?

  • A. Exactly 2
  • B. Exactly 4
  • C. Exactly 8
  • D. Exactly 12

Q7. The statement that Pakistan's 'capabilities' would be made available to Saudi Arabia under the 2025 pact — widely read as hinting at a nuclear dimension — was made by which one of the following?

  • A. Pakistan's Defence Minister, Khawaja Asif
  • B. Pakistan's Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif
  • C. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
  • D. Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff

Q8. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), whose security calculus the Saudi-Pakistan pact directly affects, comprises how many member states?

  • A. Four
  • B. Six
  • C. Seven
  • D. Nine

Q9. The Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement concluded at Al-Yamamah Palace in September 2025 was signed by how many heads of government/state?

  • A. Two
  • B. Three
  • C. Four
  • D. Six