5 min readAug 13, 2026 06:15 AM IST
First published on: Aug 13, 2026 at 06:15 AM IST
Israel has demonstrated through its bombing campaign of Iran-linked targets that it would accept no restraints in protecting what it regards as its legitimate security interests. Meanwhile, the US has made clear the limits on its security guarantees to its West Asian allies. In this new security landscape, three key players — Riyadh, Ankara and Islamabad — have come together to sign a mutual defence pact. The “Mecca Joint Defence Agreement” marks a shift away from the US security umbrella and towards greater self-reliance. This landmark pact borrows elements of Article 5 of the NATO charter, including its collective security clause.
Both treaties mandate that an armed attack against any one of their member countries will be regarded as an attack against them all. However, there has been no clarification from Brussels or Ankara on how they will reconcile their collective security responsibilities under the Atlantic Charter with simultaneous responsibilities that may arise from the Mecca Agreement. For example, if Israel strikes a Saudi nuclear fuel enrichment facility, Turkey will be required by the Mecca Agreement to respond. If that leads to hostilities between Turkey and Israel, will the 32 NATO countries be treaty-bound to militarily support Turkey against Israel? Such a matrix of interlocking military alliances triggered World War I; it would be odd if this blunder were to be repeated.
The Mecca Agreement brings together the strengths of three Asian power centres. First, a South Asian declared nuclear power, Pakistan, contributes a powerful conventional military and a functional nuclear arsenal, though it is unclear whether Islamabad has offered a nuclear umbrella. Of the two West Asian powers, Saudi Arabia provides political and financial clout as leader of the Sunni world and controller of one of the world’s largest oil reserves. Finally, Turkey, the successor of the Ottoman Empire, brings in a powerful military and a highly capable defence industry. The unstated targets of the allies are the other two West Asian power centres: Iran, leader of the Shia world and a major influence in Houthi-controlled Yemen, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon through its proxies, including Hezbollah and Hamas; and Israel, a military and intelligence powerhouse and an undeclared nuclear power.
Much of this is old wine in a new bottle. Pakistan has provided military training and technical assistance to the Saudi Arabian defence forces for decades. In September 2025, Riyadh and Islamabad signed a bilateral “Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement”, which has evolved with the participation of Ankara in the trilateral Mecca Agreement. Last May, Pakistan deployed some 8,000 troops, a squadron of JF-17 fighter aircraft, drones and HQ-9 air defence systems to Saudi Arabia. Riyadh, in turn, has repeatedly provided financial bailouts to Islamabad. Turkey and Pakistan have exchanged warships and training aircraft.
India’s foreign ministry says it is tracking the situation carefully. It must do so, given Pakistan’s long Cold War record of hitching its wagon to pacts, alliances and treaties to oblige Western governments to derive a geopolitical advantage against India. In 1954, Pakistan obliged the US by joining the Southeast Asia Treaty Organisation (SEATO), ostensibly to act as a regional bulwark against the spread of communism. In fact, it did so to obtain advanced weaponry and economic aid from America for the struggle against India for J&K. Today, Saudi Arabia and Turkey are piggybacking on Pakistan in seeking a bigger strategic role in Asia, especially to challenge India’s ambition to lead the Global South.
Similar motivations are probably driving Pakistan’s current play in West and South Asia, that is, its initiative to mediate between Washington and Tehran and its high-profile role in the Mecca Agreement. There is little need for Islamabad to up the ante in this manner. Since 2019-2020, when the Chinese military intruded into Indian territory in eastern Ladakh, New Delhi has taken steps to de-escalate military tensions with Rawalpindi. The Indian Army has converted a 60,000-man strike corps that was configured for the terrain on the India-Pakistan border into a mountain strike corps configured for the China border. Two more mountain divisions raised in the last two decades were assigned entirely to the China border. Whereas 70 per cent of the Indian Army was once earmarked for the Pakistan border, only about 55 per cent is today. Pakistan’s West Asia initiative, therefore, provides an opening for India to use the changing military balance on the border as a springboard for further de-escalation.
The writer is a retired Army officer and journalist
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan signed the Mecca Agreement on August 7. (Photo: X/@PakPMO) 
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