Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye sign Makkah Joint Defence Agreement

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye have signed the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, reaffirming their commitment to collective security, defence cooperation and regional stability, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA). The agreement was signed during the Makkah Al-Mukarramah Summit for Joint Defence, held at Al-Safa Palace in Makkah on Friday, the statement said.

According to the Foreign Office, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visited Saudi Arabia at the invitation of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud received Prime Minister Shehbaz and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at Al-Safa Palace ahead of the summit.

The ministry said the three leaders reviewed the longstanding relations among Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkiye, along with a range of issues of mutual interest.

The FO said the agreement builds on the three countries' longstanding historical ties, shared strategic interests and defence cooperation. It said the pact reflects 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 will be regarded as an attack against all three.

The agreement also provides for enhanced cooperation across all aspects of defence between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye, the FO said.

The three nations share growing ​concerns over Middle East chaos and an increasingly assertive Israel, as the United States struggles ⁠to contain regional threats.

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.

Earlier, Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Saudi Arabia on Friday for a one-day working visit.

Erdogan's plane landed at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, where he was welcomed by Mishaal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, deputy governor of the Makkah Region, Türkiye's Ambassador to Riyadh Emrullah Isler, and Consul General in Jeddah Mustafa Unal.

The president then departed for the holy city of Makkah by road.

During the visit, Erdogan is expected to meet Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

Earlier, sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters that Turkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are expected to sign a ​joint defence agreement in Makkah amid regional turmoil with Gulf states coming under fire from Iran ‌after it was attacked by the US and Israel.

Two regional sources with direct knowledge of the matter said the deal would be signed on Friday, which was later confirmed by ​a Turkish official. Another regional source said it was not clear whether the agreement would also be publicly announced on Friday.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, accompanied by Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Asim Munir, arrived in Jeddah on Thursday and performed the Umrah pilgrimage in ​Makkah.

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 militia in Iraq, since the war began on February 28.

The conflict has also exposed Gulf states' security vulnerabilities and disrupted shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of ​global oil and liquefied natural gas transited 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.

An existing Saudi-Pakistani pact treats an attack on either as an attack on both and encompasses "all military means", a ‌Saudi official ⁠previously told Reuters. In practice, Pakistan has sought to avoid becoming militarily entangled in the Iran war, instead opting to try to mediate with Iran.

Pact builds on longstanding military ties

Turkiye and Pakistan, on the borders of the Middle East, are anxious to calm conflicts that threaten their own security and economic health.

For Saudi Arabia, the consequences ​of three years of widespread Middle East conflicts have been more severe - bringing it under direct fire from three directions, imperilling ​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 Makkah, the holiest site in Islam, will add symbolic heft to a pact that builds on longstanding bilateral military ties among the three countries.

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.

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.