ISLAMABAD: Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey have drafted a trilateral defense agreement after nearly a year of discussions, Federal Minister for Defence Production, Raza Hayat Haraj, said on Friday.
Speaking to Reuters, Haraj clarified that this potential trilateral pact is separate from the bilateral defense agreement signed between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia last year. The agreement still requires full consensus among all three countries to be finalized.
“The draft of the trilateral defense agreement is currently in circulation,” he said. “It is with Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, and all three nations are reviewing it.”
According to analysts, this development signals a push by the three regional powers to strengthen cooperation amid rising tensions and security concerns in the region over the past two years.
Separately, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, during a press conference in Istanbul, confirmed that talks have taken place, but no agreement has yet been finalized. He emphasized the need for broader regional cooperation and mutual trust to address instability, external influences, conflicts, and terrorism.
A recent Bloomberg report suggested that Turkey expressed interest in joining the Pakistan-Saudi Arabia defense alliance, which analysts say could shift the power balance across the Middle East and beyond.
For context, last year Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed a defense pact stating that aggression against one country would be considered aggression against both, similar to NATO’s Article 5 principle.