Understanding the alliance of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia & Turkey

On August 7, 2026, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey signed a pact committing themselves to collective defence against attacks on anyone of the three countries. For both Pakistan and Turkey, this was not the first time they had joined a multi-nation defence pact. Following the territorial expansion ambitions of what was then called the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), its leader Josef Stalin had not kept secret his desire to extend his country's southern borders into Asia. The USSR had already extended its domain into Eastern Europe and north-central Asia. Moscow was looking for a route to the warm waters of the Arabian Sea. That meant bringing in Turkey, Iran and Pakistan under its control.

Further expansion into Europe was blocked by the United States by creating the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). This approach worked and Washington followed it up by creating the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO) and the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO). Pakistan was a member of both CENTO and SEATO, while Turkey was a member of CENTO.

The new agreement can reshape the strategic layout of the Middle East. While there was no official statement by Saudi Arabia or Turkey, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said that the pact "stipulates that any attack against any one of the three states shall be regarded as an attack against all three". President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey travelled to Makkah as did Shehbaz Sharif, the Pakistan Prime Minister, to sign the deal. Sharif said in a post on social media that the pact's implementation could include joint defence industry projects and counterterrorism operations. The pact is called the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement as it was initialed by the leaders of the three countries in the holy city of Makkah. While Egypt participated in early discussions about such a pact, it was not mentioned in the Saudi statement. However, at some time in the future Egypt along with other Muslim countries in the region might decide to join the three-country alliance.

The idea for the agreement among the three Muslim nations evolved in the first half of 2026 as wars and instability across the Middle East led many nations in the region to explore new ways to enhance their security without relying on the United States and other Western powers. This thinking developed as the United States and Isreal launched an air attack on Iran; new attacks were carried out on Saudi Arabia that Riyadh has blamed on Iran's allies in Yemen and Iraq; concerns were expressed about Isreal's expanding actions in the region; and doubts were raised about the reliability of the United States as a defence guarantor for its allies in the Middle East. Officials from the three countrires released similar statements saying that the pact was defensive in nature, that it was not aimed at any specific country and that other nations could join it.

Rayed Krimly, Saudia Arabia's deputy minister for public diplomacy, wrote on social media that the pact would allow the three countrires to integrate their defences to deter threats. He also said that the three Muslim-majority nations did not seek to establish a new "military axis or sectarian bloc or set of an arms race" and that the agreement would not get in the way of individual countries' other international obligations.

Asfandyar Mir, a senior fellow at the Stimson Center, a think tank, in Washington, said the agreement was less about NATO-style military integration than about political signaling . "What matters is three militarily capable states, in crucial geographies, with diverse relationships, are committing to one another's defense. It is not intended to replace the United States. But it certainly reflects a judgment that U.S. commitment alone is no longer sufficient to ensure security and maintain stability." The agreement brings together three countrires with different strengths whose combined territory extends into Europe and Asia. Turkey and Pakistan have large militaries and well-developed industries producing military equipment. China has helped Pakistan develop aircraft-building factories which have sold their products to the Middle Eastern countries. Saudi Arabia is oil-rich and has plans to diversify its economy.

Analysts who looked at the pact saw it as an effort by the Saudi Kingdom to build a maritime coalition to deter attacks on the Red Sea. In June, the Saudis invited dozens of countrires to join the agreement they were drafting. At least fourteen countrires including Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan and Nigeria affirmed their support. Saudi Arabia and Pakistan already have a mutual defence pact signed in September 2025 which states that "any aggression against either country shall be considered an aggression against both."

In March 2026, Pakistan's defence chief Filed Marshal Asim Munir met with Saudi Arabia's defence minister to discuss the possibility of Iran attacking the kingdom and warned the leadership in Tehran that it was bound by the pact with Riyadh to come to its assistance in case of any attack on it. That way the Makkah pact would contain the geographic ambitions of Iran. It was a clear warning to Iran that Pakistan would use its large military to deter hostile actions by the neighbouring country. Pakistan already has a military presence in Saudi Arabia. Years ago, Pakistani troops were deployed when a group of radical Islamists marched on Makkah with the intention of taking control of Islam's holy sites. They were turned back by the Pakistani military.

Turkey and Pakistan have the largest armies in the Muslim world. Saudi Arabia has large reserves of oil which make it one of the world's richest countrires. Marrying mineral wealth with large militaries creates a formidable alliance that will dominate the geographic space in which the three countries are located. There is no doubt that Washington and Israel, its ally, are watching this development and determining how their presence in the Middle East would be affected. Had this kind of alliance been in place in February 2026, the United States and Israel would have been less aggressive in carrying out the immensely destructive attacks on Iran. With a close relationship with Pakistan, Iran may, at some time in the future, decide to join the Makkah alliance. It is hard not to give the Makkah alliance an important place in the making of foreign policy.