A leading Pakistan daily, Dawn, suggested in an article today that the newly-established Saudi Arabia-Pakistani Mutual Defense Pact could be expanded into a sort of Islamic NATO. Dawn suggests that the already-existing Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition (IMCTC), formed in 2017, could serve as the basis for such an alliance. The IMCTC coalition was founded under the leadership of Saudi Arabia, and today includes 42 Islamic and Arab countries from Africa and Southwest and Southeast Asia.
Dawn’s article states: “Now, there are indications that the military partnership could expand. Defence Minister Khawaja Asif told an interviewer that ‘the doors are not closed’ on other states. As we have argued, the Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition could be repurposed for a larger defence role, bringing together Muslim states under one banner. Such an alliance, along the lines of Nato, would strengthen the security of all member states, and deter enemies from violating the sovereignty of Muslim and Arab countries. But the doors of membership should remain open to all Muslim states.”
