Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye on Friday signed the Makkah Joint Defense Agreement, reaffirming their shared commitment to further strengthen their collective security, defense cooperation and regional stability.
In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the agreement was signed during the Makkah Al-Mukarramah Summit for Joint Defense, held at Al-Safa Palace in Makkah.
The Foreign Office said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had visited Saudi Arabia at the invitation of King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, who received Sharif and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ahead of the summit.
It said the three leaders reviewed the longstanding relations among Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkiye, along with a range of issues of mutual interest. The defense agreement, it continued, builds on the three countries’ longstanding historical ties, shared strategic interests and defense cooperation. It said the pact reflected their collective commitment to strengthening security cooperation while promoting peace, security and stability across the region and beyond.
According to the ministry, the agreement establishes a framework for collective deterrence against acts of aggression and stipulates that an armed attack against any one of the three signatory states would be seen as an attack against all three. The agreement further provides for enhanced cooperation across all aspects of defense between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye, it added.
All three nations share concerns over tensions in the Middle East, particularly amidst growing threats from Israel.
Turkiye has NATO’s second-largest military, while Saudi Arabia is home to Islam’s holiest sites and one of the world’s top oil exporters. Pakistan remains the nuclear-armed Muslim country.
Reports of the agreement emerged a day earlier, with news agencies noting it came as Iran continued to target Gulf states during heightened tensions with the United States.
According to Reuters, the pact follows nearly a year of negotiations between the three sides and builds on the Saudi-Pakistani pact that states any attack on either would be treated as an attack on both.