Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan sign defence agreement

Furthermore, the Saudis will be keenly aware of last year’s Israeli strikes on Doha, targeting senior Hamas officials. According to a report last year by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, external, “across the Gulf, states recalibrated their defence strategies”. This pact is one of Saudi Arabia’s responses.

For Pakistan, the pact offers different but complementary benefits. In May 2025 its long-standing tensions with India boiled over into open conflict.

While an all-out war was avoided, having the economic muscle of Saudi Arabia and the military and industrial might of Turkey in their corner will be seen as increasingly valuable.

It also comes at a time when Pakistan has been taking on a far more significant role in global diplomacy.

It has acted as an intermediary between Iran and the US and hosted ceasefire negotiations, significantly increasing its status in the region – something this pact further cements.

As for Turkey, the benefits are different. According to Burcu Ozcelik from the London-based Royal United Services Institute (Rusi), the deal offers opportunities for the country’s significant defence industries through “joint production, technology partnerships, procurement and greater military interoperability”.

While, on the surface, the concept of a mutual defence agreement seems straightforward, in practice the circumstances in which they would come into play are both complex and uncertain.

Would, for example, Turkey be obliged to join in strikes on Yemen if Saudi Arabia’s full-scale war with the Houthis were to restart?

Would Saudi Arabia have to declare war on India were there to be a re-emergence of conflict with Pakistan?

Each instance would require complex calculations and careful diplomacy, often in an attempt to avoid escalation. It is, in short, uncertain.

The one consequence of a mutual defence agreement that sides involved will be banking on, however, is deterrence.

The very fact that they each now have two other regional powers standing behind them may not make aggression impossible, but it will make its potential cost significantly higher.