Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkiye signed the Makkah Agreement for Joint Defence on Friday 7 August 2026, committing each state to treat an armed attack against any one of them as an attack against all three. The pact takes effect upon signature and aims to strengthen collective deterrence and deepen defence cooperation across all domains.
The mutual-defence clause
The joint statement issued after the Makkah Summit states that the agreement "stipulates that any armed attack on any of the three countries is an attack on all of them." It is intended to "strengthen joint deterrence against any aggression" and to develop "all aspects of defence cooperation" among the signatories. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the agreement reaffirms the right of self-defence as defined in Article 51 of the UN Charter and is open to the participation of other "brotherly countries that aim for the peace, prosperity, and stability of our region."
Signing at Al-Safa Palace, Makkah
The agreement was signed at the Royal Court in Al-Safa Palace in Makkah by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The summit was convened at the invitation of King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. Pakistan's army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, accompanied the prime minister and was credited by Sharif for his "untiring efforts and utmost dedication" in bringing the pact to fruition. The three leaders had arrived in the kingdom on 6: 7 August 2026, with Sharif and Munir performing the Umrah pilgrimage in Mecca before the summit.
What the agreement is not
A Saudi statement explicitly disclaimed several interpretations of the pact. "The agreement does not represent any orientation toward building a military axis or sectarian/religious bloc, and it is not linked to nuclear endeavours or an arms race, but rather to building sustainable self-reliant capabilities," the statement read. It added that the agreement "does not come at the expense of the Kingdom's strategic and strong relations at the Gulf, Arab, and international levels." A Turkish government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, described the agreement as "purely defensive in nature" and "not against any specific actor."
Regional backdrop
The signing comes amid a Middle East convulsed by nearly three years of widening conflict. Saudi Arabia has come under direct attack from Iran as well as from Tehran's Houthi allies in Yemen and Shia militias in Iraq since the Iran war began on 28 February 2026. The conflict has disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas transited before the war. The pact builds on nearly a year of negotiations, first reported by Reuters in January 2026, and on an existing bilateral Saudi: Pakistan defence pact signed in September 2025 that already treated an attack on either as an attack on both.
What the evidence does not yet establish
The full text of the agreement has not been published. It is not yet clear what specific military obligations each party assumes, whether the pact requires parliamentary ratification in any of the three countries, what mechanism triggers the mutual-defence clause, or how the new trilateral framework interacts with the pre-existing bilateral Saudi: Pakistan defence pact.