India is examining the implications of a joint defence agreement signed by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Tuesday.

Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that the government was assessing the agreement from the perspective of India’s “national security as well as considerations of regional, peace and stability”.

“India remains fully committed to safeguarding its national interests,” Jaiswal said at a media briefing. “…[India] will take all necessary measures in this regard.”

The three countries signed the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement on Friday. The pact aims to strengthen “collective deterrence” and states that an armed attack against any one of the three countries would be considered an attack against all.

The agreement had come against the backdrop of heightened tensions in West Asia amid conflict involving Iran, Israel and the United States.

The pact brings together three Sunni Muslim-majority countries. Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s largest oil exporters and home to Islam’s holiest sites. Pakistan is the only nuclear-armed Muslim-majority country, while Türkiye has the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s second-largest military.

On Tuesday, Jaiswal also said India was also closely following developments in the West Asia conflict.

Written by Anamika Pathak. Edited by Tanya Shrivastava.

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