New Delhi, Oct. 3 -- Riyadh builds a Saudi Pakistan shield, ending Israeli impunity and opening an Indo-Pak peace window.

Who would have thought when Pakistan first announced its nuclear success that this very nation would, decades later, be framed as part of a de facto security umbrella for West Asia? At the time, the natural assumption was that Pakistan's deterrent existed solely to counter its nuclear-armed neighbor, India. Perhaps Israel, more than most, sensed the potential role Pakistan could play in the Muslim world in a future multipolar order. That may explain why Israel once contemplated sabotaging Pakistan's nuclear program, plans that were never executed, largely because the political fabric of Asia at the time was woven tigh...