Pakistan says defense pact with Saudi Arabia, Turkey open to other nations

Pakistan has signaled that other countries in the region may join the mutual defense treaty it recently concluded with Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said in a statement posted Sunday on X, formerly Twitter, that the Mecca Joint Defense Treaty "is open to all countries in the region that adhere to its founding principles and seek to resolve conflicts through mutual respect and peaceful means." He said the pact is consistent with the right of individual and collective self-defense enshrined in Article 51 of the UN Charter.

Dar said the treaty "is not directed against any country, including Iran, and is purely defensive in nature," adding that it is the result of years of discussions aimed at addressing regional security concerns. He said the pact does not nullify or replace existing bilateral or multilateral commitments, and reflects a shared commitment to strengthening strategic security cooperation.

The Pakistani government added that it would continue to work with countries across the region in pursuit of lasting peace and stability.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan had similarly pushed back Saturday against characterizations of the three-nation pact as a "Sunni collective security framework" directed against Iran and Israel, saying, "Countries that do not attack us are not our targets." He also noted that "other countries want to participate," and mentioned that Egypt could join the treaty in a subsequent phase.

The secretariat of the trilateral military alliance formed under the Mecca Joint Defense Treaty is to be established in Saudi Arabia, where the three countries are expected to collaborate on defense industry projects and joint military exercises.

The leaders of the three Sunni-majority Muslim nations — Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey — signed the joint defense treaty in Mecca, Islam's holiest city, on Friday. The treaty stipulates that an external armed attack against any one of the three countries shall be considered an attack against all of them.

Pakistan is the only nuclear-armed state in the Muslim world, Saudi Arabia is a major global oil producer with vast economic resources and regional influence, and Turkey — a NATO member — fields a large military and a domestic defense industry.

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia had earlier concluded a Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement last September, under which an attack on either country's territory would be treated as an attack on the other.