Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, Pakistan Sign Mutual Defence Pact Amid Ongoing Conflict
On Friday, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif signed the 'Makkah Joint Defence Agreement', a mutual defence pact that treats an attack on any one of the three countries as an attack on all three.
The signing took place at al-Safa Palace in Mecca, with the leaders holding up folders containing the agreement for cameras to capture. The pact is seen as a response to the ongoing conflict between the US and Iran, which has led to missile and drone attacks on Gulf oil exporters, including Saudi Arabia.
Analysts say the agreement's value lies in creating uncertainty for adversaries and strengthening collective deterrence, rather than specifying fixed military obligations similar to Western alliances. However, some have questioned whether the pact is a strategic signal or an operational alliance, with any integrated military capacity years away.
Saudi Arabia has been seeking to develop its own defence sector capacity alongside building alliances to help it deter attacks, instead of relying on US security guarantees. Turkiye's President Erdogan said the pact 'does not target any country' and remains 'open to the participation of all brotherly countries seeking peace, prosperity, and stability.'
The agreement is seen as a significant development in the region's changing power dynamics, with some analysts predicting that it may expand to include other countries such as Kuwait and Qatar. The pact has also raised questions about the role of the US in the Middle East, with some seeing it as an attempt by Saudi Arabia to diversify its alliances.