What is Mecca Joint Defence Agreement?

• Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey signed a joint defence agreement in Mecca on August 7.

• The Mecca Joint Defence Agreement was signed by Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Al-Safa Palace in Saudi Arabia.

• Under the agreement, an armed attack against any one of the three countries will be regarded as an attack against all three.

• It is presented in the model of NATO defence arrangement.

• Saudi Arabia said the agreement does not represent an effort to establish a military axis or a sectarian bloc.

• Turkey has NATO’s second-largest military. 

• The pact comes as the conflict in West Asia has widened across multiple fronts, including the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, prompting Gulf states to strengthen regional security coordination.

What is the significance of this pact?

• The Middle ​East has been in flames for nearly three years since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.

• Israel has waged war ​in Gaza, invaded southern Lebanon and seized territory in Syria as well as launching two air campaigns against Iran. 

• Iran has fired on Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Jordan and Israel.

• Saudi Arabia is looking to strengthen its security ties against the backdrop of war between the United States and Iran, which has drawn in surrounding nations and disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea.

• While Turkey and Pakistan, on the fringes of the Middle East, have avoided ​significant direct attacks, both are anxious to calm conflicts that threaten their own security and economies.