Mecca defence pact: Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan set to hold first talks in Istanbul

Senior officers from Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan will meet in Istanbul on Monday for the primary committee assembly under their new joint defence agreement, a Turkish Overseas Ministry supply advised Reuters.

Overseas and defence ministers, together with the army chiefs of the three nations, will attend the assembly.

The talks are anticipated to give attention to strengthening defence capabilities, enhancing coordination between their armed forces and increasing defence trade cooperation, together with joint manufacturing and growth.

“Worldwide safety points will probably be on the agenda,” the supply advised Reuters.

The assembly comes six months after the US and Israel launched the conflict towards Iran, which has disrupted power provides and contributed to a world power disaster.

The three nations additionally share considerations over the army insurance policies of each Israel and Iran, including a wider regional safety dimension to the talks.

WHAT IS THE MECCA DEFENCE AGREEMENT?

Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement on August 7 amid heightened regional tensions brought on by the Iran conflict.

The settlement states that an armed assault towards any of the three nations will probably be handled as an assault on all of them. The availability is much like NATO’s Article 5 collective defence clause.

The pact is meant to strengthen collective deterrence and enhance the power of the three nations to reply collectively to exterior aggression.

The three US allies have been involved concerning the widening regional battle, together with Iranian missile assaults on Gulf oil-exporting nations.

Turkey has NATO’s second-largest army, Pakistan possesses nuclear weapons and Saudi Arabia is likely one of the world’s largest oil exporters. The settlement brings collectively their army, strategic and financial strengths beneath a collective safety framework.

MECCA PACT COULD EXPAND FURTHER

Turkey has mentioned the settlement is open to enlargement, with Egypt rising as a possible member.

Cairo has one of many area’s largest militaries and already works carefully with Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan via an off-the-cuff grouping often called “STEP”.

A number of nations have expressed curiosity in becoming a member of the pact, Turkish Overseas Minister Hakan Fidan advised the state-run Anadolu Company. He mentioned their entry was being held up solely by technical points.

Egyptian Overseas Minister Badr Abdelatty mentioned Cairo was learning the settlement “very severely”. Nonetheless, he mentioned a call would require an in depth examination of Egypt’s Structure and present authorized commitments.

Ankara has maintained that the pact is meant to enrich present alliances quite than change them.

– Ends

(With inputs from Reuters)

Printed By:

Aprameya Rao

Printed On:

Aug 30, 2026 17:59 IST

Source link

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *