Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Türkiye’s new joint defence agreement says an armed attack on any one of the three countries would be regarded as an attack against them all, Pakistan’s foreign ministry said. The pact also provides for joint military exercises and deeper cooperation between their defence industries.
The Turkish defence ministry said the agreement is intended to place defence and military ties on a “more institutional and sustainable” footing. It said the countries plan to create strategic political and military mechanisms involving their defence and foreign ministers and the chiefs of their armed forces.
What the agreement establishes
The planned mechanisms are designed to coordinate the three countries at the highest level, according to the Turkish defence ministry. The arrangement brings together Türkiye, which has NATO’s second-largest army, nuclear-armed Pakistan and major oil exporter Saudi Arabia.
Türkiye has said the pact is open to expansion, with Egypt mentioned as a potential candidate. It has also said the agreement is not intended to replace existing alliances.
Related coverage: Inside the Mecca defence pact’s combined military strength.
Why the pact was signed now
The agreement follows a visit to Saudi Arabia by Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, accompanied by army chief Asim Munir, for the Umrah pilgrimage in Mecca. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan then travelled to Saudi Arabia to meet Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The new security arrangement comes amid heightened military tensions and conflicts in the Middle East. During the US-Israeli war on Iran, Saudi Arabia was repeatedly hit by Iran, which said it was targeting US military assets in the Gulf.
What similar defence agreements show
Mutual-defence pacts can deter large-scale interstate wars, but analysts say their effectiveness often falls when conflicts move into a “grey zone”, including military occupation, settlements, internal repression or proxy violence. Such agreements may therefore signal a stronger political alliance without operating as a fully integrated collective-defence system.
NATO’s Article 5 is the best-known example of the principle that an attack on one member is an attack on all. NATO has invoked it once, after the September 11, 2001 attacks against the United States. Other arrangements have had different records: the European Union’s mutual-defence clause was invoked by France after the 2015 Paris attacks, while the US-Japan and US-South Korea defence treaties were never invoked.
No comments yet. Start the discussion.