Tazeen Akhtar | Islamabad
The State of Qatar is an emerging economic power in the Middle East with a vision of peaceful neighborhood and good relations with all countries on an equal basis. Qatar has achieved milestones in its international diplomacy and strengthened its defense as well to face the challenges in the region.
Qatar is a time tested friend of Pakistan and stood shoulder by shoulder through thick and thin. Pakistan reciprocally attaches great importance to its relations with Qatar and as a highly profashional and equal to the task military power , Pakistan is always ready to support the defense of the brotherly nation. Qatar is one of Pakistan’s closest partners in the Gulf, maintaining close cooperation in energy, investment and regional diplomacy.
The defense cooperation between the two states has improved remarkably during the last one year for which Qatar’s Military Attaché, Brigadier General Abdulhadi Mohammed Arhaib Al-Hajri rightly deserves credit for his untiring efforts to foster relations between the leaders on both sides.
Pakistan and Qatar maintain a deeply integrated and rapidly expanding defense relationship, highlighted by a landmark Strategic Defense Agreement alongside extensive historical training, maritime cooperation, and joint security operations.
Brigadier General Abdulhadi Mohammed Arhaib Al-Hajri soon after assumption of the charge in Islamabad held high level meetings with defense officials of Pakistan. In Dec last year, he discussed enhancing the level of defense cooperation, which was a very timely move as we see what is happening in the Middle East since the end of Feb this year. Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif shared his vision with particular focus on defence collaboration.
Both sides agree to broaden defence cooperation by enhancing joint military exercises and expanding training initiatives. Pakistan’s military institutions are fully prepared to offer training facilities and expertise to Qatari armed forces.
The sides have held a number of talks on government level centered on further strengthening defence ties. Qatar’s military attaché expresses satisfaction with the existing level of defence cooperation and advocates further deepening the collaboration.
Chief of Defence, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir visited Qatar in Sep 2025 and met with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defense Affairs Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman bin Hassan Al-Thani. He has undertaken multiple high-level official visits to Qatar, including key diplomatic and military engagements alongside Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif as well as standalone defense coordination meetings.
General Asim Munir had high-level diplomatic and military interactions with the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, accompanying Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on joint leadership visits to Doha to strengthen bilateral, economic, and regional security cooperation.
The sides had consensus on expanding military collaboration, joint training, and strategic security coordination to address regional security issues, shared geopolitical developments, and cooperative diplomatic efforts.
Recently, Qatar and Pakistan have again sought to deepen their security cooperation following talks between the two interior ministers in Doha. Qatari Interior Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani held talks with his Pakistani counterpart Mohsin Naqvi on bilateral security ties. They discussed ways to further strengthen and develop the cooperation.
Military Attaché, Brigadier General Abdulhadi Mohammed Arhaib Al-Hajri is successfully moving forward in his work on taking the bilateral defense cooperation to new heights and the interactions mentioned above prove that his efforts are bringing fruitful results.
Key Aspects of Defense Cooperation
The countries have finalized a major Strategic Defense Agreement. Under this framework. Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif highlighted efforts to invite Qatar and Türkiye to join its existing strategic defense alliance with Saudi Arabia to form a robust security architecture in West Asia.
Simultaneously, the two nations act as vital diplomatic mediators to ease regional tensions, such as facilitating back-channel contacts between the US and Iran.
Training and Skill Exchange: Pakistan’s military institutions remain fully open to the Qatari Armed Forces, offering high-level training, administrative instruction, and human resource development.
Most recently, Doha and Islamabad have coordinated diplomatic efforts linked to regional stability, including engagements surrounding the conflict between the United States and Iran in the Middle East.
Qatar is one of Pakistan’s closest partners in the Gulf, hosting hundreds of thousands of Pakistani workers and maintaining close cooperation with Islamabad in energy, investment and regional diplomacy.
