Bangladesh has expressed interest in joining the Mecca pact, a mutual defense treaty between Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan, the country's State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kobir said Monday.
Speaking to local media Monday, the state minister said it would not be unusual for Dhaka to join a group of like-minded Islamic countries although no formal proposal has yet to be made.
"We are expressing interest in the Mecca defense pact ... Bangladesh is a country of recognition now and there is an interest," Kobir said, according to leading Bangladeshi daily, Prothom Alo.
“Those who are stakeholders in the Middle East and in the Muslim world – they are inviting Bangladesh’s leadership ... to come and participate," he added.
Humaiun underlined Mecca's importance for Muslim-majority Bangladesh, saying that it was in the hearts of its people.
