Pakistan on Monday strictly denied reports that Islamabad has signed a secret arms deal with Saudi Arabia to provide arms to Syrian rebel groups.
Foreign office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam in a short statement termed the report “ridiculous’ saying that this report was based on groundless claims.
The spokesperson said that media created such news on baseless speculations and added that there was no fact in this report.
AFP on Sunday had reported that Saudi Arabia was in talks with Pakistan to provide anti-aircraft and anti-tank rockets to Syrian rebels to try to tip the balance in the war to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The report pointed to a visit to Riyadh earlier this month by Pakistan’s army chief, General Raheel Sharif, who met with Saudi Crown Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz.
Prince Salman had himself last week led a large delegation to Pakistan, shortly after Saudia’s chief diplomat Prince Saud al-Faisal visited the kingdom’s key ally.
Jordan will be providing facilities to store the weapons before they are delivered to rebels within Syria, the report had said.
The AFP had not, however, obtained confirmation from any official in Saudi, Pakistan or Jordan.