Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye sign tripartite defence agreement in Makkah

Makkah: Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye on Friday signed a joint defence pact in Makkah that empowers member states to treat an attack against one of them as an attack against all of them.

The Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, which seeks to strengthen the collective security of the three states, was signed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Saudi Crown Prince and PM Mohammad bin Salman, and Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the “Makkah Al-Mukarramah Summit for Joint Defence” held at Al-Safa Palace.

The three countries announced the signing of the agreement in a joint statement published by the Foreign Office (FO) and Saudi Arabia’s official SPA press agency.

The statement said the pact reflected the three countries’ “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”.

“The agreement is intended to strengthen collective deterrence against any act of aggression, and stipulates that any armed attack against any one of the three states shall be regarded as an attack against them all.”

It also “provides for the enhancement of all aspects of defence cooperation” among the three countries, the statement added.

The agreement is “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”.

During the Makkah Al-Mukarramah Summit for Joint Defence, the “distinguished relations” between the three countries were reviewed, “along with a number of issues of mutual interest”, the statement noted.

Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) and Chief of the Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir, Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, and Defence Minister Khawaja Asif were also present at the signing ceremony.

The defence and foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and Turkiye were in attendance as well, pictures showed.

Sealing the agreement in Makkah, the holiest site in Islam, adds symbolic heft to a pact that builds on longstanding bilateral military ties among the three countries.

The agreement ties together Pakistan, the only nuclear-armed Muslim country; Saudi Arabia, the home to Islam’s holiest sites and one of the world’s top oil exporters; and Turkiye, Nato’s second-largest military.

Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Minister for Public Diplomacy Rayed Krimly said 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 on X.

He noted that the deal “does not constitute a threat to the security of any country in the region, nor does it represent an escalation of tensions between any two states”.

The Saudi official further said the agreement “does not supersede or replace any existing bilateral or multilateral agreements between these countries”.

Mansoor Ahmed, of the Australian National University’s Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, said Islamabad and Ankara bring strong defence industries to the table, while Riyadh could contribute with technological spending.

While the pact comes in the backdrop of the US-Israel war on Iran, Bloomberg had reported in January — before the conflict began — that Ankara was seeking to join a separate mutual defence pact between Islamabad and Riyadh.

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia had already signed the “Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement” in Riyadh last September, pledging that any attack on either nation would be treated as an act of aggression against both.

In January, Reuters quoted Defence Production Minister Raza Hayat Harraj as saying that a draft had been prepared after 10 months of talks. Turkish FM Hakan Fidan had said Ankara favoured an “inclusive platform that creates wider, bigger cooperation and stability”.

Pakistan has also sought to mediate efforts to end the US-Iran war, while Turkiye has played a diplomatic role in negotiations aimed at ending the war in Gaza.

The three countries, along with Egypt, have been closely involved in efforts to promote regional stability and contain the regional upheaval sparked by the US-Iran war.

The regional conflagration has rained missile fire onto Gulf oil exporters, with Iran targeting Gulf countries in retaliation for attacks carried out against it using US military bases in the region.

The deal also comes as a 2022 truce between Riyadh and the Houthi rebels in Yemen has broken down.

After the two sides traded fire for the first time in years last month, Houthis declared a maritime blockade against the kingdom, threatening access to its ports, and has claimed to have attacked Saudi tankers in the Red Sea.

Pakistan had condemned the Houthis’ threats to Saudi Arabia and to trading with the kingdom via the Red Sea. It also warned that it had the right to self-defence if its “maritime interests” were targeted in “any hostile act”.

As the conflict expanded onto new fronts, Saudi Arabia last week unveiled plans for a multinational maritime defence coalition to protect shipping and energy supply routes in the Red Sea. Fourteen countries, including Pakistan, have voiced support for the coalition.

Crown Prince Salman held separate meetings with PM Shehbaz and President Erdogan at the Al-Safa Palace earlier in the day.

DPM Dar, CDF Munir and Asif were also present in the meeting with PM Shehbaz, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said.

Meanwhile, Erdogan’s office confirmed on X that he also held a meeting with Crown Prince Salman.

PM Shehbaz arrived in Saudi Arabia on a three-day visit on Thursday, while the Turkish president undertook a one-day visit today, Anadolu Agency reported.

Erdogan landed at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, from where he departed for Makkah by road, the Turkish news outlet reported.

PM Shehbaz had landed in Jeddah on Thursday. CDF Munir later joined the Pakistani delegation, which also included Information Minister Attaullah Tarar and Special Assistant to PM Tariq Fatemi.

On Friday morning, the delegation visited the Holy Kaaba and performed Umrah, the PMO said. PM Shehbaz is also expected to visit Masjid-i-Nabvi (PBUH) in Madina.

According to an earlier statement by the FO, discussions between the two sides were to “focus on consolidating the Pakistan-Saudi bilateral relations as well as exchange of views on regional and international developments of mutual interests”.

The FO had noted that although the visit was taking place amid heightened tensions in the Gulf, it carries “significance beyond the immediate crises and short-term considerations”.

It said the visit will “further strengthen bilateral relations, deepen strategic cooperation, enhance coordination on regional and international issues of mutual interest, and reinforce multilateral cooperation”.

“The visit marks Pakistan’s long-standing partnership with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia anchored in decades of mutual trust, cooperation and brotherhood,” the FO had emphasised.

Pakistan has provided training and technical assistance to Saudi forces for decades, while Turkiye and Pakistan have exchanged warships and training aircraft.

In 2023, Riyadh agreed to buy Turkish drones in what Ankara called its largest defence export contract. In April this year, Saudi Arabia said it received a military force and fighter jets from Pakistan to boost the kingdom’s security.