Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey Sign Historic Joint Defense Pact

Riyadh (Terror Monitor, AFP, Reuters, AP, DPA) — Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, three major Muslim-majority countries and regional powers, have signed a joint defense agreement under which an attack on any one of the three countries will be considered an attack on all three.

According to reports received from Islamabad on Friday, August 7, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said the agreement marks a significant new phase in security and defense cooperation among the three countries amid growing regional and international security concerns.

According to reports by several news agencies, the trilateral defense pact was signed on Friday in the Saudi city of Mecca by Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, accompanied by Pakistan’s Army Chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, arrived in Saudi Arabia on Thursday for a three-day visit. Turkish President Erdoğan arrived in Saudi Arabia on Friday for the signing of the agreement.

The choice of Mecca as the venue for the signing of the key defense agreement also carries significant symbolic importance.

All three countries are members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and have Muslim-majority populations. Pakistan is the only declared nuclear-armed state in the Muslim world, while Turkey is a member of the NATO military alliance.

Mecca is also home to the Kaaba, Islam’s holiest site, which is visited by millions of Muslims each year for Hajj and Umrah.

Against this backdrop, the signing of the trilateral defense agreement in Mecca carries considerable symbolic significance for the people of the three countries and the wider Muslim world.

A key provision of the agreement is that an armed attack against any one of the three countries will be treated as an attack against all three.

Another notable point is that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia had already signed a bilateral defense agreement before the new trilateral pact.

According to Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry, the agreement aims to strengthen the three countries’ collective ability to respond to any aggression or armed attack against any of them.

Under the new arrangement, an armed attack against Pakistan, Saudi Arabia or Turkey will therefore be regarded as an attack against all three countries, with the parties committing to respond collectively.