File photo: Turkish President Erdogan, Saudi Crown Prince MBS and Pakistani PM Shabaz Sharif, during the signing of the Mecca Pact
On August 7, the three countries signed the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, which brought together the three Sunni Muslim-majority US allies. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has compared the arrangement with Nato’s Article 5, while stressing that the alliance was not directed against Iran or any other specific country.
The general secretariat will be led by Pakistan in its first phase for three years, according to Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry. Turkey, which has Nato’s second-largest military, has said the agreement with nuclear-armed Pakistan and Saudi Arabia is open to expansion and does not seek to replace existing alliances. The pact seeks to strengthen defence cooperation and collective deterrence among the three countries, though it does not specify detailed operational or military commitments. Under the pact, an armed attack against any one of the three countries would be treated as an attack against all three. Egypt has been identified as a potential candidate. Catch the latest World News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.
Saudi Arabia , Turkey and Pakistan on Monday agreed to set up a secretariat in Saudi Arabia under the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement. This comes as top officials from Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan will gather in Istanbul on Monday for the first committee meeting under the joint defence agreement.