Pakistan’s Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif met Qatar’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Affairs, Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman bin Hassan bin Ali Al Thani, in Doha on 24 February 2026. According to a joint statement, the two sides discussed bilateral defence and security cooperation and reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening ties.
The prime minister expressed satisfaction over ongoing collaboration between the armed forces of both countries. Sheikh Saoud, for his part, praised the professionalism and expertise of the Pakistan Armed Forces and conveyed Qatar’s interest in deepening the defence partnership.
This marks PM Shehbaz’s third visit to Qatar in the last five months.
Building on Military-to-Military Foundations
The Doha meeting comes weeks after Qatar’s armed forces participated in the 9th International Pakistan Army Team Spirit (PATS-2026) competition, held from 5–9 February at Kharian in Punjab. The 60-hour-long patrolling exercise featured 24 teams from 19 countries – including Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, the United States, and Egypt – in semi-mountainous terrain.
Qatar performed strongly at PATS-2026. According to Qatar’s Gulf Times, the Qatari Military Police Forces secured the gold medal, while the Joint Special Forces and Ahmed bin Mohammed Military College each earned silver.
In this vein, the PATS competition represents a tangible military-to-military engagement channel between the two countries. It builds familiarity with Pakistani training doctrine and operational standards – the kind of institutional exposure that, historically, precedes deeper cooperation in areas such as training infrastructure, special forces collaboration, and equipment familiarisation.
Economic and Strategic Context
The Doha discussions extended beyond defence. PM Shehbaz also met Qatar’s Minister of State for Foreign Trade, Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed Al-Sayed, who serves as Chairman of the Pak-Qatar Joint Business Taskforce.
Both sides reviewed follow-up actions from the 6th Session of the Pakistan-Qatar Joint Ministerial Commission and agreed to convene a taskforce meeting during Ramadan to discuss concrete investment proposals.
The prime minister highlighted the role of the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) in easing foreign investment. For Pakistan, the economic dimension of Gulf engagement is inseparable from the defence relationship – Qatari investment, energy cooperation, and remittance flows contribute to the broader fiscal stability that sustains defence spending.
Regional security featured prominently as well. Both leaders discussed the situations in Iran and Afghanistan, emphasising dialogue and de-escalation.
Source:
quwa.org