The joint defence agreement, signed by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye in Mecca on August 7 reflects their shared strategic anxieties and the changes under way in West Asia’s security architecture. The three countries have pledged to bolster collective security and deterrence, and promised to treat an armed attack against one as an attack against all. On paper, this is a formidable alliance. Pakistan is a nuclear-armed country with a powerful military; Saudi Arabia, one of the world’s largest crude oil exporters, has deep pockets and considerable influence across the Muslim world; and Türkiye has an expanding military industrial base, including advanced drone production capabilities. That the pact was announced in the middle of the war on Iran and Israel’s continuing bombing campaigns in the region is no coincidence. Faced with the prospect of reduced American strategic presence in West Asia, regional powers have begun looking beyond the traditional U.S. security umbrella for new partnerships. In September 2025, a few weeks after Israel bombed Qatar, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia announced a bilateral defence agreement. The war on Iran, which saw Tehran retaliating by striking U.S. bases across the Persian Gulf, and Israel’s wars in its neighbourhood, have further deepened the security concerns of Saudi Arabia and Türkiye. They have now decided to turn the page on their often fraught relationship and build a trilateral framework with Pakistan, which fought a short aerial war with India in May 2025.

This agreement shows the growing appetite of regional powers for formal security pacts. Türkiye, which has long sought a bigger role in West Asia, will gain more strategic space. Pakistan, traditionally a South Asian regional power overshadowed by India, is also seeking to expand its role as a West Asia security provider and mediator. The alliance would allow the three countries to deepen defence cooperation and military interoperability though it is too early to say whether it would help them address their security challenges. Alliances based on collective security, such as NATO and CSTO, are generally formed to build deterrence against conflicts. The biggest liability of the Mecca Agreement is that it was signed amid ongoing wars. Over the past five months, Saudi Arabia has faced repeated Iranian missile and drone attacks. The collective security pledge is unlikely to deter Iran from targeting U.S. bases in Saudi Arabia if the war, currently on pause, escalates further. Existing conflicts, therefore, make the promise of collective defence largely symbolic from the very outset. So, the credibility of the Mecca Agreement will ultimately depend on whether the three partners can turn their political commitment into a credible deterrent, which is currently non-existent.

Published - August 10, 2026 12:20 am IST