New Delhi: Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan Friday signed a joint defence pact in Mecca, formally committing to treat “an armed attack against any one of the three countries as an attack against them all”.
The Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, which follows nearly a year of negotiations, was signed following the Makkah Summit on Joint Defence, held at Al-Safa Palace in Mecca. Its signing in Mecca lends symbolic significance to a pact among the three Sunni-majority countries. Earlier reports had indicated Egypt would also sign it, but did not eventually.
According to a joint statement issued after the summit, the trilateral agreement aims to strengthen collective deterrence against external aggression and deepen defence cooperation across all military domains among the three nations.
Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan sign Joint Defence Agreement https://t.co/q9c42DOtTW pic.twitter.com/k1EKozqpKH— Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye (@trpresidency) August 7, 2026
The joint statement said the agreement was guided by the “longstanding historical ties among the three countries, the enduring bonds of brotherhood and Islamic solidarity that unite them, and their shared strategic interests and longstanding defense cooperation”.Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a separate statement reiterated the contents of the agreement. “Guided by the longstanding historical ties among the three States, based on the enduring bonds of brotherhood and Islamic solidarity that unite them, and building upon their shared strategic interests and longstanding defence cooperation…reflecting the three States’ shared commitment to further strengthening their collective security and to promoting peace, security, and stability in the region and beyond, in pursuit of a secure and prosperous future,” read Islamabad’s statement.Saudi Arabia’s Minister for Public Diplomacy, Ambassador Dr Rayed Krimly, also commented on the agreement, describing it on X as the product of years of negotiations and decades of expanding strategic cooperation among the three countries. He said the agreement would enable Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan to develop joint defense capabilities, strengthen strategic deterrence, enhance military readiness, and further integrate their respective defense capabilities to jointly address threats to their safety and security.Krimly reiterated that, under the treaty, any external armed attack against any one of the three countries would be regarded as an attack against all three. The agreement, he added, would not come at the expense of Saudi Arabia’s strong strategic relationships with its Gulf, Arab and international partners. “The agreement does not represent an effort to establish a military axis or a sectarian bloc. Nor is it linked to any nuclear ambitions or arms race, rather it is focused on building sustainable capabilities,” he wrote. He further said that the pact does not constitute a threat to the security of any country in the region and should not be viewed as an escalation of tensions between any two states.
