The trilateral pact declares that an armed attack on any one of the three nations will be treated as an attack on all.
Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan have signed a joint defence agreement aimed at strengthening collective deterrence and expanding military cooperation between the three countries. The pact was signed on Friday in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, according to the Saudi Press Agency.
Known as the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, the deal stipulates that an armed attack on any of the three countries will be treated as an attack against all of them. It was signed by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif.
The signing took place during the Makkah Al-Mukarramah Summit for Joint Defence, held at Al-Safa Palace, where the three leaders reviewed relations between their countries and discussed issues of mutual interest. The agreement was sealed on Friday, the most sacred day of the week for Muslims, in Islam’s holiest city.
What the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement Covers
The agreement builds on longstanding bilateral military ties among the three states. Beyond its central mutual-defence clause, it covers the development of all aspects of defence cooperation between the signatories.
According to the joint statement, the summit was held on the basis of the three countries’ historic ties, Islamic solidarity, shared strategic interests and close defence cooperation. A Pakistan Defence Ministry representative said the agreement reflected the three states’ commitment to further strengthening their collective security and to promoting peace, security and stability in the region and beyond.
The joint statement described the agreement as a reflection of the three nations’ commitment to bolstering collective security and to pursuing a secure and prosperous future for their peoples.
HRH the Crown Prince, President of Türkiye, and Prime Minister of Pakistan sign the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement. pic.twitter.com/IGmuVbknl1
— Foreign Ministry 🇸🇦 (@KSAmofaEN) August 7, 2026The pact brings together three states with distinct strategic profiles. It ties Pakistan, the only nuclear-armed Muslim country, to Saudi Arabia, home to Islam’s holiest sites and one of the world’s leading oil exporters, and Turkiye, which fields NATO’s second-largest military.
Senior officials from all three governments attended the ceremony. On the Pakistani side, Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of the Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, and Defence Minister Khawaja Asif were present. The defence and foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and Turkiye also attended.
The summit followed an invitation extended by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. President Erdogan and Prime Minister Sharif travelled to the Kingdom for the occasion, where they were received by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at Al-Safa Palace in Makkah.
Makkah Defence Agreement Signed Amid Regional Developments
The agreement was signed during a period of heightened military tensions across the Middle East. It marks one of the most significant formal defence commitments in the region in recent years, linking a leading oil exporter, a NATO member and a nuclear-armed state under a single mutual-defence framework.
The pact builds on a series of steps deepening security ties between the three governments. Reporting on the summit noted that discussions on broader defence cooperation among Arab and Islamic nations have taken place in recent months, though no additional countries have joined the current agreement, and it remains to be seen whether the framework will expand in future.
According to the signatories, the agreement is intended to serve their collective security and to support stability across the wider region. As the details of implementation take shape, the three governments have said the pact reflects their shared strategic interests and their commitment to close defence cooperation.
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