Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey on Friday signed a trilateral defence pact in Mecca as the three Sunni-majority US allies moved to enhance collective security amid escalating regional tensions involving Shia-majority Iran and its allied groups.
Named the "Mecca Joint Defence Agreement", the pact does not specify the exact military commitments or obligations of the three countries. However, a joint statement said its objective is to strengthen collective security and promote peace, stability and security across the region and beyond.
According to Pakistan's Dawn, citing the Foreign Office, the agreement is aimed at reinforcing "collective deterrence against any act of aggression" and states that an armed attack on any one of the three nations would be treated as an attack on all.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed the agreement in Mecca.
The pact comes amid heightened tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and allied groups have carried out attacks on Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, while energy supplies have also been disrupted following the joint US-Israel military operation against Iran on February 28.
A Turkish official told Reuters that the agreement is purely defensive, is not aimed at any particular country or actor, remains open to participation by other regional nations and does not replace or supersede existing bilateral or multilateral defence arrangements.
The new pact builds on the 2025 defence agreement between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, under which an attack on either country is considered an attack on both.
The three signatories bring considerable military strength to the arrangement. Turkey possesses Nato's second-largest military, Saudi Arabia is the Gulf's strongest military power and one of the world's largest oil exporters, while Pakistan is the only Muslim-majority country with nuclear weapons.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was accompanied to Mecca by Pakistan Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir. The two performed the Umrah pilgrimage before President Erdogan arrived in Saudi Arabia.
They later met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whose country has faced repeated attacks from Iran, the Tehran-backed Houthis in Yemen and Shia militias in Iraq since the conflict escalated on February 28.
Meanwhile, Kuwait ratified a broad defence cooperation agreement with Pakistan on July 26, originally signed in 2023. The deal establishes a framework for military cooperation covering training, intelligence sharing, logistics, defence technology, research and exchanges of expertise between the two countries' armed forces.
Turkey has consistently backed Pakistan on the Kashmir issue despite Pakistan's illegal occupation of parts of the region. Ankara also supported Islamabad during India's four-day military operation against Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in May 2025.
Turkey reportedly supplied more than 350 military drones along with drone operators to Pakistan. During Operation Sindoor, Pakistan deployed Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 and YIHA drones against India.
Defence ties between Turkey and Pakistan have expanded significantly in recent years. With the signing of the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, the three Sunni-majority nations have established a Nato-style security framework that could influence the evolving conflict in the Middle East.
