Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye signed a joint defence agreement in Mecca on Friday, uniting Sunni Muslim US allies concerned about a regional conflict that has brought missile attacks on Gulf oil exporters.
Iran and its allies have been striking Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states and blocking their energy shipments since the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28.
Although Saudi Arabia and Pakistan already have a mutual defence agreement announced last year in September, the Pakistan-Saudi Arabia-Türkiye agreement is an expansion of the existing agreement.
At the summit, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif joined Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in signing the ‘Makkah Joint Defence Agreement,’ according to a statement from Pakistan’s Foreign Office.
The agreement aims to bolster collective deterrence against aggression and states that an armed attack on any one of the three countries will be treated as an attack on all of them. It also calls for expanding defence cooperation across all areas among the three states, the statement said.
‘Closely following development,’ says MEA
Responding to a question around the joint defence pact between three Islamic nations, India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal in a press briefing on Friday said, “This is a development that we are closely following.”
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday held a telephonic conversation with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, discussing the special strategic partnership and measures to further strengthen this bond.
The two leaders also discussed developments in West Asia, although neither side mentioned any talks with regard to the joint defence pact between Pakistan-Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
The Ministry of External Affairs on the talks between the two leaders said, “With Israel we have a special strategic partnership. During the conversation between the two Prime Ministers, it was discussed as to how we can further strengthen this bond, this friendship that we have with Israel across various sectors. Both leaders also discussed the ongoing situation and developments in West Asia.”
By joining forces, Türkiye, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have formed a trio in which each country brings distinct strengths: Saudi Arabia offers vast wealth and regional influence; Turkey possesses a NATO-standard military-industrial base and ranks among the world’s top drone manufacturers; and Pakistan holds nuclear weapons as the only nuclear-armed Islamic nation, along with a battle-tested military.
Together, the alliance appears poised to reshape Asia’s security architecture, although Islamabad also plays a mediator role in the ongoing West Asia war, having cordial ties with Iran, which has repeatedly targeted Riyadh, which might prove catastrophic for Islamabad, with risk of being involved in Saudi disputes.
