Sunni Nato is here: Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia sign mutual defence pact

Pakistan, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, the three Sunni Muslim-dominant countries, have signed a Nato-like defence agreement. The pact, "Mecca Joint Defence Agreement", signed in Saudi Arabia aims to strengthen collective security and defence among the three countries.Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ahead of the expected signing of a defence deal between Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey in Mecca. (Image: Reuters)Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey signed a joint defence agreement in Mecca on Friday, as the three Sunni-majority US allies seek to bolster collective security amid a wider regional conflict with Shia-dominant Iran and its proxies.The agreement, named "Mecca Joint Defence Agreement", does not spell out the specific commitments or obligations undertaken by the three countries.However, a joint statement said it aims to strengthen collective security and promote peace, security and stability in the region and beyond.According to Pakistan's Dawn, citing the Pakistan Foreign Office, the agreement is intended to strengthen "collective deterrence against any act of aggression" and "stipulates that an armed attack against any one of the three countries would be regarded as an attack against all three". Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed the pact in Mecca on Friday.The deal comes amid a sharp escalation in tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and allied groups have launched attacks targeting Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries, while energy shipments have also been disrupted, after the US and Israel held a joint operation on Iran on February 28. A Turkish official told Reuters that the new agreement is defensive in nature, is not directed against any specific country or actor, remains open to other regional countries and does not replace or override existing bilateral or multilateral defence arrangements.The pact also builds on a 2025 defence agreement between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, under which an attack on either country is to be treated as an attack on the other.The three countries bring significant military and strategic weight to the arrangement. Turkey has Nato's second-largest military, Saudi Arabia is the Gulf's leading military power and one of the world's biggest oil exporters, while Pakistan is the world's only nuclear-armed Muslim-majority country.Pak PM Sharif was accompanied to Mecca by Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir. The two performed the Umrah pilgrimage before Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Saudi Arabia.The two later met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whose country has faced repeated attacks from Iran as well as Tehran-aligned Houthi forces in Yemen and Shia militias in Iraq since the conflict began on February 28.Kuwait, another Gulf state, has also ratified a broad defence cooperation agreement with Pakistan that it had signed back in 2023 on July 26. The agreement established a framework for cooperation between the armed forces of Pakistan and Kuwait and focuses on military training, intelligence sharing, logistics, defence technology, research, and exchanges of expertise.This is a developing story. It will be updated.- EndsPublished On: Aug 7, 2026 16:34 IST