Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan sign joint defence pact amid regional turmoil

Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey signed a joint defence agreement in Mecca on Friday, wedding Sunni Muslim U.S. allies alarmed at a regional conflagration that has rained missile fire onto Gulf oil exporters.

Iran and its allies have been firing on Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, and blockading their energy shipments, since the U.S. and Israel attacked it on February 28 in a major escalation of years of regional tumult.

The agreement is intended to strengthen collective deterrence against any act of aggression and stipulates that an armed attack against any of the three would be regarded as an attack on all, they said in a joint statement.

While the statement did not give specifics on the commitments or obligations each had accepted under what it called the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, it said the pact was aimed at strengthening their collective security and promoting peace, security and stability in the region and beyond.

A Turkish official said the agreement was defensive in nature, was not directed against any specific actor, was open to other regional countries, and did not abrogate or replace any existing bilateral or multilateral arrangements.

However, the three nations are particularly concerned by the increasingly aggressive military stances of both Israel and revolutionary Shi'ite Iran even as their longtime U.S. ally struggles to contain regional upheaval.

"The political symbolism of the summit is significant. Three of the Muslim world's most influential states are convening at a moment of heightened uncertainty, demonstrating a growing willingness among regional and middle powers to coordinate more closely on security matters," said Abdulaziz Sager, chairman of the Gulf Research Center, a Saudi-based think tank.

"If institutionalised and translated into concrete cooperation, the trilateral framework could strengthen the three countries' collective diplomatic and defense weight while contributing to the emergence of a more regionally driven security architecture," Sager added.

Turkey has NATO's second-largest military. Saudi Arabia, the strongest Gulf state, is home to Islam's holiest sites and one of the world's top oil exporters, while Pakistan is the only nuclear-armed Muslim country.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, accompanied by powerful army chief Asim Munir, performed the Umrah pilgrimage in Mecca before Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's arrival.

They met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whose country has been repeatedly struck by Iran, as well as by Tehran's Houthi allies in Yemen and Shi'ite militia in Iraq, since the war began on 28 February.

The conflict has also upended the security of Riyadh's Gulf allies and shut down most shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, the route for about a fifth of global energy supplies before the war.

Their pact follows nearly a year of negotiations, reported by Reuters in January, when Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Ankara favoured a broader regional security platform to promote cooperation and stability.

The Middle East has been in flames for nearly three years since the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, with nearly every country in the region experiencing cross-border attacks or missile or drone fire. Israel has waged war in Gaza, invaded southern Lebanon and seized territory in Syria as well as launching two air campaigns against Iran.

Tehran has attacked U.S. bases and civilian infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Jordan and Israel.

While Turkey and Pakistan, on the borders of the Middle East, have avoided significant direct attacks, both are anxious to calm conflicts that threaten their own security and economic health.

For Saudi Arabia, the consequences of three years of Middle East conflicts have been more severe — imperiling its oil exports and ambitious development plans and drawing big questions over the reliability of its longstanding US security umbrella.

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

Mansoor Ahmed, of the Australian National University's Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, said Pakistan and Turkey bring strong defence industries to the table, while Saudi could contribute with technological spending.

However, the accord would likely not include a nuclear component with Pakistan's atomic deterrent focused on what it sees as the threat from India, Ahmed added.

Pakistan has provided training and technical assistance to Saudi forces for decades, while Turkey 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.

Pakistan has since deployed about 8,000 troops, fighter jets, drones and an air-defence system to the kingdom, Reuters reported in May, and has pursued wider Gulf security ties. It has opened negotiations with Kuwait over an expanded pact in exchange for energy cooperation and investment, Reuters reported in July.