Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan signed a joint defense agreement in Makkah on Aug. 7 during a meeting hosted by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and included Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Declaring that an attack on one is an attack on all, the “Makkah Joint Defense Agreement” pact states: “The Agreement is intended to strengthen collective deterrence against any act of aggression and stipulates that any armed attack against any one of the three States shall be regarded as an attack against them all. It further provides for the enhancement of all aspects of defense cooperation among the three states.” The three parties “shared commitment to further strengthening their collective security and to promoting peace, security, and stability in the region and beyond, in pursuit of a secure and prosperous future.”
The short one page agreement does not target any country by name, but it occurs at a time when the region is experiencing its worst military crisis since the U.S. Iraq war of 2003. The three countries, which have had strong military political and economic relations for a long time, had been discussing creating such defense agreements for a number of years.
This tripartite agreement follows a bilateral Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed on September 17, 2025, also by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. In light of the fact that Pakistan is a nuclear power, many commentators have stated that Pakistan had extended its nuclear umbrella over Saudi Arabia – which has never been officially confirmed by the two countries.
