Mecca Defence Pact: The defence chiefs of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkiye have renewed their commitment to protect Saudi Arabia as attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels continue, raising security concerns. At a meeting in Riyadh on Friday, the three countries discussed stronger intelligence cooperation, closer military coordination and better integration of defence capabilities.

Urgent Security Meeting After Houthi Attacks

According to a Saudi Foreign Ministry statement, the foreign ministers of the three countries had earlier condemned the attacks and called for an urgent meeting of senior military officials. During the Riyadh talks, the defence chiefs condemned attacks targeting Mecca, along with strikes against Saudi civilian and economic infrastructure and reviewed the security situation.

The development comes after there were reports that the Mecca defence pact may be activated as Houthis continued to attack the Kingdom. The Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, signed in August by Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkiye, declares that any armed attack against one of the three signatories will be regarded as an attack against all three countries.

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In this regard, it was speculated that Pakistan and Turkiye may join the war to support the Kingdom against Houthi aggression. However, neither country indicated any intention to directly join the war. Earlier on Friday, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif described any further attack on the holy city of Mecca as a serious red line for Islamabad while speaking at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session.

Will The Pact Expand To Muslim World?

Amid these developments, discussion has also grown over the possibility of expansion of the Mecca defence pact. This comes after Turkiye’s Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmus said the agreement could eventually develop into a broader security framework involving other Muslim and regional countries.

According to Reuters, Kurtulmus said, “We never see the Mecca Agreement as a pact against Iran, it must not be that way. In fact, we hope the ⁠Mecca Agreement can turn into a broader agreement for the Muslim world. Iran can join this agreement too, we hope it will become much stronger with the participation of other regional countries.” However, the pact is still going through preparatory stages.

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