The record
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- Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan have signed a joint defence pact in Makkah, agreeing that an attack on any one of them will be treated as an attack on all three.
- The pact was signed on 7 August after about a year of discussions that began against the backdrop of the Gaza-Israel war, and follows a bilateral Saudi-Pakistan defence agreement in September 2025.
- Analysts say the three countries' strengths complement each other — Saudi wealth, Pakistani military experience and nuclear capability, and Turkish military production.
- Bangladesh has expressed interest in joining the alliance, which analysts say could bring military security and economic benefits but may also raise political tensions in South Asia.
What to watch next
- Whether Bangladesh formally joins the Makkah pact
- Whether the pact expands to include more countries in the region, as Turkey's president has suggested
- How the pact's commitments are tested in practice, since it sets no specific troop or weapons deployment obligations
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Indian-language1
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Named Saudi Arabia · Türkiye · Pakistan · Bangladesh · India · Israel · Iran · Altaf Parvez · Hakan Fidan · Humayun Kabir · Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan · Mohammad bin Salman · Recep Tayyip Erdogan · Sahab Enam Khan
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