On Friday, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkey signed a mutual defense agreement in the Saudi city of Mecca, similar to NATO. This agreement stipulates that an attack on any one of these countries will be considered an attack on all three. This marks the official start of defense cooperation among the three Sunni Muslim countries.
During the meeting held in Mecca, the agreement was announced by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
This move comes as these countries are concerned about escalating regional conflicts. In order to address Iran’s nuclear threat, the United States and Israel launched joint operations against Iran starting on February 28. Since then, Iran has been launching missiles and drones at American allies in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries, threatening energy transportation in the Hormuz Strait. Recently, Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have started targeting Saudi objectives, further escalating tensions in the region.
In a joint statement on Friday, the three countries stated that the “Mecca Mutual Defense Agreement” aims to “enhance collective deterrence against any aggressive behavior,” where an armed attack on one country of the three will be seen as an attack on all three.
“This strengthens defense cooperation across all aspects among the three countries,” the statement said.
According to Reuters, Abdulaziz Sager, chairman of the Saudi-based think tank the Gulf Research Center, mentioned that “at a time of great uncertainty, the convergence of the three most influential countries in the Muslim world indicates that regional powers and medium powers are increasingly willing to enhance coordination on security issues.”
Sager added that this trilateral cooperation mechanism is expected to increase the overall influence of the three countries in diplomacy and defense, while also promoting the establishment of a security framework driven by regional countries.
Although the treaty promises mutual support, it does not specify the obligations of the parties. A Turkish official cited by Reuters mentioned that the treaty is “purely for defense purposes” and does not override any existing agreements between the three countries and others. Deputy Turkish President Cevdet Yılmaz stated that the agreement is not directed against any specific country.
Turkey has the second-largest military in NATO. Saudi Arabia is home to Islamic holy sites and is one of the world’s major oil exporting countries, while Pakistan is the only Muslim country with nuclear weapons.
Saudi Arabia and Pakistan had already declared a joint defense agreement last year. For decades, Pakistan has been providing training and technical assistance to the Saudi military, and Turkey and Pakistan have also exchanged naval vessels and trainer aircraft. Saudi Arabia is a major buyer of Turkish drones.
Pakistan has deployed around 8,000 soldiers, fighter jets, drones, and air defense systems to Saudi Arabia.